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FRUITS AND FARINACEA 



PROPER FOOD OF MAN; 



BEING AN ATTEMPT TO PROYE, FROIT HISTORY, ANATOSTT PHY- 
SIOLOGY, AND CHEiriSTRY. 

THAT THE 

friginal, Itolural, aiili lest |ict of Itan 



IS DERIVED FROM THE 

VEQETABLE KINQDOM 
BY JOHN SMITH. 

WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 
BY R. T. TRALL, M. D. 

jfrom tl)e SeconU SHontion BUftfon. 



NEW YORK: 
FOWLER AND WELLS, PUBLISHERS, 

No. 30« BEOADWAY. 

Bostok: » I PraLADELPniA : 

Ko. 142 Washington St \ \ No. 281 Arch Streut. 






X^'« 



Co 



Entered, accordhag to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by 

FOWLERS AND WELLS, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for ,tjie 

Southern District of New York. 



EDWARD 0. JENKIXS, PRINTER k STEREOTYPER^ 
114 Nassau Street, New York. 



AMERICAN PREFACE. 



The great importance of, and interest in, the Yegetarian question, in- 
volving as it does the relations of food to health, and, indeed, the theory 
of the progress, improvement, and destiny of the human race, render a text 
book of facts and principles not only desirable but indispensable. 

The sources from whence the arguments for or against an exclusively 
vegetable diet are usually and necessarily derived, are natural history, 
physiology, experience, and revelation ; hence the student has an ample 
range in the prosecution of his researches ; whilst the author who under- 
takes to collate judiciously the essential problems in all their departments 
of knowledge, and present intelligibly their vast variety of statistical data, 
requires a mind of no ordinary discernment and discrimination. 

But the author of " Fruits and Farinacea" has executed such a task, 
and in a most admirable manner, as the present work — which I cannot too 
strongly commend to the American people, and to all truth-seekers every- 
where — abundantly testifies. As a compendium of the evidences and rea- 
sonings on the whole subject of the philosophy of diet, it is as full and 
complete as can well be compressed within the narrow compass of a small 
book. 

The explanatory notes and physiological illustrations which I have added, 
are intended mainly to elucidate such of the more difficult and most dis- 
puted propositions as the general reader may not have time or opportunity 
to explore by the ordinary method of scientific investigation. 

R. T. T. 

Hydbopathio and Htgienio Institute. 
Nmv York., 1854 



/7r 



PREFACE 



TO 



THE FIRST EDITION 



The views advocated in the following pages differ so widely from those 
generally held by writers on dietetics, and are so diametrically opposed to 
the ' habits and customs of society in this country, that I am by no means 
sanguine of making many proselytes ; but what will man not attempt, when 
fully convinced that he is laboring in the cause of truth ? If perfectly 
satisfied that he has arrived at a correct and important result, opposition 
will only redouble his ardor in supporting and spreading the doctrine he 
has espoused. His steady perseverance in its defence will frequently 
expose him to the charge of enthusiasm or egotism ; these, in fact, seem 
almost necessary to the man who would successfully advocate any new or 
not generally received opinion : every one is warm in what he considers a 
good cause ; and he who observes the majority of society indifferent to the 
truth which he believes himself to possess, can scarcely avoid displaying 
the characteristics of the egotist. 

By defending a fruit and farinaceous diet among my own friends, I have 
frequently incurred similar charges ; I cannot, therefore, expect to be more 
leniently treated by literary and scientific critics. Perhaps, also, I may be 
accused of presumption, for daring to controvert points upon which phy- 
siologists are so generally agreed. It is very far from my wish to convey 
an impression that I place either my talents or acquirements on a par with 
those of the many learned and scientific discoverers who have written upon 
the subject, and whose views differ from my own : yet men of indifferent 
abilities have sometimes, by a steady and persevering attention to evidence, 
arrived at truths which have escaped the notice of more powerful intellects ; 

(T) 



Vi PREFACE. 



and " so limited is the human capacity, that the most exalted genius, and 
the deepest powers of investigation, have not been able to raise their pos- 
sessors above the errors and prejudices of their age, on subjects wliich have 
not been made the peculiar object of their reflection." I therefore hope 
that my investigations will not be found so devoid of interest as some may 
at a first glance suppose ; nor my deductions so wide of the truth as a 
reference to the long-established dietetic habits of my countrymen may 
seem to indicate : but whatever judgment the public may pass upon the 
opinions here advocated, at least it will be a satisfaction to feel that I have 
written with a sincere desire of benefiting society in general ; and more 
especially its members who suffer from dyspepsia and other diseases. He 
who undertakes to bring a new or neglected subject before the public, finds 
it exceedingly difficult to adopt the best arrangement of which it will 
admit ; and the probability is, that he will not defend his views with that 
clearness and force which, when more generally canvassed, might be 
brought to their support. Hence arguments which may appear forcible 
and conclusive to a person whose attention has been long and steadily 
directed to the subject, and who has viewed it in all its bearings, may be 
totally inadequate to produce conviction in others who have thought little 
about it. 

" Perhaps," as has been well observed, " the best mode of leading an- 
other to the apprehension of truth, is to show how we ourselves were 
convinced : and, in the announcement of a new discovery, it is always well 
to explain how we were first impressed with the idea, and afterwards pro- 
ceeded ; for nature always tells her own tale best, and in the most impress- 
ive way : by so doing, we in some measure place others in a similar posi- 
tion with ourselves, and enable them to judge through the same evidence 
which has convinced us." In accordance with this remark, I may briefly 
state, that I read an Essay on " Manifestations of Mind," about ten years 
ago, to the members of a small Literary Society, and attempted to trace 
the phenomena of sensation, from the lowest up to the highest forms of 
animated being. After the reading of the paper, and an interesting dis- 
cussion on the similarity of structure in the organs of sense, and the resem- 
blance of the nervous and cerebral development, in the superior classes of 
animals, to those of man, the following question occurred to me : — " Is man 
justified in slaughtering animals for his food ; seeing that, by means of a 
beautifully-organized structure, they are rendered exquisitely sensible both 
of pleasure and pain ?" 

The answer I mentally returned to the inquiry was : " If the flesh of 
animals be necessary to the health, happiness, and longevity of man, then 



PREFACE. vii 



the law of self-preservation will warrant his taking the life of animals ; — 
provided he be guilty of no cruelty, and cause no unnecessary pain to the 
animal which he sacrifices to supply his wants ; but if upon further inquiry 
it should appear that the life of man can be preserved, his health and 
strength maintained, his pleasure and happiness continued or rendered more 
pure and satisfactory, and the period of his mortal existence unabbreviated 
or prolonged, by a diet of which the flesh of animals forms no part, — then 
would neither wisdom nor benevolence sanction the horrid cruelties that 
are daily perpetrated, in order to pamper the perverted appetites of man." 

Believing the subject to be one of great interest, I determined to inves- 
tigate it impartially, and resolved to adopt practically whatsoever should 
appear to be the plain dictates of nature. After carefully consulting the 
writings of Moses, traditionary records, comparative anatomy, physio- 
logy, chemistry, general history, and private experience, I arrived at the 
firm conviction, that the flesh of animals is not only unnecessary, but de- 
cidedly prejudicial to man's health and well-being. I therefore discontinued 
it, as an article of diet ; and, persevering in spite of the fears and remon- 
strances of my friends, I was soon rewarded with better health and more 
real enjoyment than I had experienced during many years. 

Having derived incalculable advantages from a strict adherence to a fruit 
and farinaceous diet, and being fully satisfied (after a long and patient in- 
vestigation of evidence) that it is well adapted to all constitutions, in all 
climates fit for the residence of man, I can no longer resist the importunity 
of my friends to publish the result of my experience and inquiries. 

Throughout the whole of these investigations I have preferred express- 
ing my sentiments in the language of authors eminent for talents and scien- 
tific pursuits, rather than in words of my own ; which must be my excuse 
for the many disconnected sentences and sudden transitions to be found in 
the work. On a careful perusal of the whole, I find much to be dissatisfied 
with ; — arising, in a great measure, from the many interruptions that have 
occurred during its composition ; and I would gladly have re-written it, 
had not my avocations forbid the attempt. I therefore solicit the indul- 
gence of the public towards its faults and imperfections. 

For much valuable information on the points I have discussed, I am 
indebted to the works of Drs. Lambe, Grant, Carpenter, Southwood Smith, 
Prout, Bird, Eoget, Pereira, Dick, and Miiller ; Professors Liebig, Law- 
rence, and Mulder ; Baron Cuvier, Mr. J. F. Newton, and many others , 
more especially to the " Lectures on the Science of Human Life," by Mr. 
Sylvester Graham, of North America ; which I would earnestly recommend 
to all who feel an interest in the subject. 



€(intnits. 



IjnrBOI>TT#eiOHi ..---------...pp.1 



PART I. 

OEIGmAL FOOD OF MAN. 

CHAPTER I. 

Ettdbxce peom thb WKmNGS OF Moses and from Tradttion. — Fruit and Herbs bearing 
Seed appointed to Man for Food. Golden Age described by Ovid, Yirgll, and others. 
Man's Expulsion from Paradise. Silver Age, &c. Longevityof the Antediluvians. Man 
permitted to eat Animal Food after the Deluge. Little Animal Food eaten long after the 
Deluge. Brazen and Iron Ages. Consequences of a Change of Diet. Fable of Prome- 
theus, &c., - - ^ - - pp. 29-11 



CHAPTER n. 

Inferences from the original Innocence of Man. — ^Man created in the Divine Imago. 
Opinion that Man is progressive in Mental and Moral Qualifications - - pp. 41-44 



CHAPTER III. 

Inferences from the Sensations of Sigut, Smell, and Taste. — Man dependent on Instinct 
In the Selection of Food. Sight, Smell, and Taste would direct him to Fruit, pp. 44-17 



. CHAPTER IV. 

Pbepaeations op Animals fob Food,— Fire, and Implements for Killing and Preparing 
Animals. Summary of Previous Evidence, pp. 47^9 



CONTENTS. 



PART II. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



CHAPTER I. 

Ettdbitce aftoeded by Compaeative Anatomy. — Instincts of Man deteriorated by Acquire^ 
Habits. Natural Food of Man not determined by Climate but by Structure. General 
Characteristics of Carnivorous and Herbivorous Animals. Proper Mode of proceeding in 
the Inquiry. Teeth— Incisors, Cuspids, Bicuspids, Molars. Articulation of the Lower 
Jaw. Zygomatic Arch, Temporal and Masseter Muscles. Salivary Glands. Alimentary 
Canal— Stomach, Colon, Caecum, and Liver. Perspiratory Glands. General Eeview of 
the Organs, pp. 53-86 



CHAPTER II. 

Man (strictly speaking) not Omntvoeotts. — ^Intermediate Character of Man's Digestive 
Organs. The Gastric Juice varies according to the Food. Organs in which Man differs from 
other Animals. Questionable whether any Animal be strictly Omnivorous. The Quadru- 
mana and their Food. Opinions of Linnseus, Cuvier, Lawrence, Bell, and others. Two 
Objections answered. Animals trained to live upon and relish Improper Food. Difference 
between Adaptation and Adaptibility. Improvements of Art inferior to Nature. Pro- 
vince of the Intellectual Faculties, pp. 86-98 



CHAPTER HI. 

Physiology of Sight, Smell, and Taste. — Objection— Flesh-eating general in various na- 
tions, pp. 93-110 



CHAPTER IV. 

Bensittve and Moeal Feelings of Man. — Slaughtering of Animals opposed to the Exercise 
of Benevolence and Sjmipathy. Instances of Cruelty to Animals killed for Food. 
Opinions of others on this Point. Demoralizing Influence of Torturing and Killing Ani- 
mals. Cases in which Man is justified in Destroying Animals. Objections. "Why wore 
Oxen, Sheep, &c., created, if not for the use of Man ? If Animals be not killed, they will 
become too numerous. How could the Land be cultivated without Animal Manure ? 
The Sum Total of Animal Pleasure is increased by Breeding and Killing Animals for 
^ood, pp. 111-123 



CONTENTS. 



PART III. 

BEST FOOD OF MAN, 

CHAPTER I. 

Vegetables contain all the ELEMEinB an© QtrALinEs necessaey foe the Complete 
NtTTErrioN OF Man. — Processes of Decay and Nutrition. Azotized and Non-azotized 
Principles of Food. Various Sources of Nitrogen to the Herbivora, &c. Man can be 
supported by Non-azotized Food. Food of the Carnivora and Herbivora. Nutritive Mat- 
ter in various Articles of Diet. Convertibility of Starch into Fat, Protein, &c. Benefits 
resulting to Man from the Action of the Atmosphere on Non-azotized Principles. A Mixed 
Diet does not contain the best Proportions of Starch, Gluten, &c. Food should vary 
according to the Character of the Digestive Organs. Time in which various Articles are 
converted into Chyme. Experiments of Majendie and others. Concentrated Food and 
Isolated Principles, Dr. Stark's Experiments. Variety of Food not so necessary as a due 
Admixture of Nutritious and Innutritions Matter. Best Kind of Bread, - pp. 127-157 



CHAPTER n. 

Experience of Nations and Individc- alb.— Vegetable Diet not a New Doctrine. Opinions 
of Pythagoras, Plutarch, &c. Various Ancient and Modern Nations have lived on Vege- 
table Productions, --PP* 157-168 



CHAPTER HI. 

Fbthts and Faeinacea coNDxrciTE TO Health.— In what Health consists. Food Nutritive 
and Stimulative. Opinions of Drs. Hufeland, and others. Examples in illustra- 
tion, pp. 163-170 



CHAPTER lY. 

Vegetable Food consistent with Physical Strength and AoTrvrrr. — ^Mistaken Notions 
on this Subject. Stimulation not Strength. More Oxygen required when Animal Food 
is taken. Protracted Labor endured better on a Vegetable than on an Animal Diet. In- 
stances of Strength in Herbivorous and Frugivorous Animals. Instances of Strength in 
Nations and Individuals who have lived on Vegetables, - - - - PP. 170-191 



CHAPTER V. 

Climate and Tempeeatuee.— A greater Degree of Cold may be sustained on Vegetable 
Diet. Eeasons which induce some to think otherwise, - - - - pp. 191-194 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Inflttbncb of Azotized Food in peoduoing ceetain Diseases.— On what the States of 
Health and Disease depend. Opinions of Medical "Writers on the Production of Disease. 
Ilecent Origin of Certain Diseases. Production and Eetention of Various Acids in the 
System. Lithic Acid Diathesis; including Gout, Calculi, &c. Dr. "W. Tyler Smith's 
Opinion respecting Scrofula, &c. Professor Liebig, Dr. Bence Jones, Dr. Prout, and Dr. 
I Oolding Bird, on the Origin of Lithic Acid. Experiments proving the Incorrectness of 
.' Lieblg's Views. Dr. Lehmann's Experiments. Production of Lithic Acid by other 
Means. Authorllles and Cases. Diabetes Mellitus, pp. 194r-214 



CHAPTER VII. 

iNJXTEiotrs Effects of Animal Food. — ^Utility of Exercise under a highly Azotized Diet. 
Direct Injuries caused by the Flesh and Milk of Animals. Caries of the Teeth produced 
by Animal Food. Decay of the Teeth more common now than formerly - pp. 214-219 



CHAPTER Vni. 

Bekeficial Effects of Vegetable Food on Invalids.— Result of Dr. North's Inquiries on 
the Subject. Dyspepsia cured by a Fruit and Farinaceous Diet Excellent Effects of this 
Diet in Phthisis. Its Effects in cases of Scrofula, Scurvy, Epilepsy, Dysentery, and In- 
flammation. Two remarkable Cases of Ulcers cured by Fruit, &c. Unnecessary Alarms 
of Persons commencing Vegetable Diet. Fevers, Epidemics, and Accidents, less Fatal 
on a Vegetable Diet Extreme Debility no Obstacle to the Adoption of a Fruit and Fari- 
naceous Diet, pp. 219-284 



CHAPTER IX. 

Vegetable Diet peotective against Epidemics. — Wallachians, Brahmins, Otaheitans, 
Negroes, and Mexican Indians. Cases in illustration by Dr. Alderson, Eev. J. B. Strettles, 
Mr. S. Graham, and Dr. Copland, Howard the Philanthropist, Chas. Whitlaw and others. 
Cholera at New York. Shelley's View of the Subject, pp. 234-240 



CHAPTER X. 

Vegetable Diet conditcive to Symmetry and Normal Development. — Effects of Differ- 
ent Kinds of Food on the Lower Animals. Organs connected with Digestion most readily 
intluenced. Development most Eegular when the Processes are Slow. Effects of Fruit 
and Farinacea on Bulk and Weight. Facts from Various Parts of the World in illustra- 
tion, - ' pp. 241-246 



CHAPTER XL 

Vegetable Diet coNDucrvE to AcirrENESS and Perfection of the Special Senses.- -State- 
ments of Mr. S. Graham and Dr. Lambe. Case of Caspar Hauaer, - - pp. 247-249 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Vegetable Diet conducive to ueal Sensual Pleasube and Enjoyment, - pp. 249-252 



CHAPTER Xm, 

Vegetable Diet favorable to Mental Exertion and Intellectual Culture. — Opinions 
of Theophrastus, Diogenes, and Sir J. Sinclair. Children of Irish Peasants, Caspar Ilau- 
ser, and Orphan Asylum of Albany. Children at Syra, St. Croix, and those of the Zulus. 
Pythagoras, Epicurus, Sir Isaac NeTvton, and others. Effects of a Full Meal of Animal 
Food, pp. 253-259 



CHAPTER XIY. 

Vegetable Diet favorable to the Government of the Passions and Peopensities, 
AND to the Development of Man's Moral Powers. — Connection between Animal Food 
and the Diffusible Stimulants. Tempers and Dispositions of Carnivorous and Herbivorous 
Animals. Effects of Feeding the Herbivor* on Animal Food. Nations living principally 
on Flesh more Cruel than others. Opinions of Porphyry and Lord Byron. Cases in 
illustration. Effects of Vegetable Diet on Sir Walter Scott. The Propensities prematurely 
Developed by Animal Diet. Injurious Effects of this Diet on Children. Concluding 
Remarks, - - - PP- 259-266 



CHAPTER XV. 

Vegetable Diet favorable to Longevitt!— Progress of Life described by Dr. South- 
wood Smith. Period of Perfect Development, the only one that can be indefinitely ex- 
tended. Longevity desirable, when properly considered. Processes of Decay and Ee- 
newal more rapid under an Animal Diet. Chyle and Blood from Vegetable Food more 
Pure. Ossification of the Tissues hastened by Stimulating Diet Opinions of Hufeland, 
Celsus, and Lord Bacon. Instances of Longevity in Nations and Individuals. General 
Comparison of the Effects of Animal and Vegetable Food, - - - - pp. 267-280 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Diet considered in its Relation to Population and the Moral Progress of Man.— 
The Organic Laws less studied than the Inorganic. As Population increases, Animal 
Food becomes scarcer. More Nutriment in Vegetable than in Animal Substances. Effects 
of a Potato Diet. Man when Carnivorous requires more extensive Supplies than the 
Lion or Tiger. One Pound of Starch equal to Four Pounds of Flesh. Weight of Animal 
Food consumed by the Canadian Boatmen, &c. Produce of Animal and Vegetable Food 
compared. View of the Subject as regards Economy. Population that may be supported 
by the Land of Great Britain and Ireland. Immense Resources of Food in the Vegetable 
Kingdom. Variable Proportions of Oxygen and Carbonic Acid in the Atmosphere. Law 
of Increase of Population. Mr. Alison on the Ratio of Food to Population. Causes of 
the Downfall of Nations. Anticipated Effects of General Education, ifcc. Consequences 
of an Advance towar(Ja Moral Perfection, jip. 280-299 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CoNCLinoiNG Eemaeks.— Best Mode of commencing Vegetable Eegimen. Eulos for the 
Preservation of Health. Fruit, Grain, Tubers, &c., proper for Human Food. Breakfast, 
Dinner, Supper, 800-308 



APPENDIX. 

Note, — A. Acquired Peculiarities, ---------- 809 

B. Composition of Urine under Different Kinds of Diet, - - - - 811 

C. Proximate Principles and Value of Various Kinds of Grain, Boots, &C., 812 

D. Produce of an Acre in Wheat, Oats, &c., 813 



NOTES BY DR. TRALL 



Absurd Experiments on Animals, ..-...•-••--- 150 

A Clergyman on Butchering, 42 

All Nutriment formed by Vegetables, ---145 

Bathing invigorates the Skin, 141 

Bible Authority, 29 

Common Objections to Vegetarianism, 162 

Diet in relation to Toothache, .--..--»--•--- 217 

Digestive Apparatus, 80-83 

Effects of Cooking on Flesh, • 47 

Effects of Tea and Coffee, 307 

Experimental Evidence. ..........87 

Food in relation to Animal Hoat, .-.-.-..-••-. 193 

Frauds in Flesh and Poultry, 118 

Herbivora taught to eat FlesS, ............. 53 

Illustrations of the Teeth, 7&-78 

Iron in the Blood, 128 

Making Food into Blood, 129 

Milk-Sickness, 216 

Modus Operandi of Stimulitats, 171 

Nutritive Quality of Fat, 136 

Organization in relation to 3iet, ..-...-•.••--56 
Permission to eat Flesh, ----.-•••.•---- 37 

Physiological Cook Book, .--308 

Pictorial Illustrations, - 57-71 

Prevalence of ConsumptEon, .-....•••••••• 168 

Sa\t as a Dietetic Article, 209" 

Treatment of Gout sual Rheumatism, 209 

VegetariaiM* ^esi «idtt!re Fasting, ...-....•--•- 173 
Water, hard, inJl»>tio«8, 145 



EXPLANATION OF TEMS 



OCCURRING IN THIS WORK, 



WHICH ARE NOT USUALLY FOUND IN DICTIONARIES. 



Abnormal. Irregular, contrary to rule. 

Acari. Ticks or mites. 

Adipose. Fatty, containing fat. 

Albumen. A proximate principle existing abundantly in the white of egg. 
It is also found in animal and vegetable fluids and solids. 

Albuminous. Containing the properties of albumen. 

Alkali. A metallic or earthy salt, as potash, soda, lime, &c. 

Alkaline. Having the properties of an alkali. 

Amylaceous. Pertaining to starch or the farinaceous part of grain, &c. 

Azote. Called also Nitrogen. A gas which is the basis of nitric acid, and 
constitutes four-fifths of the atmospheric air. 

Azotized. Imbued with azote or nitrogen. 

Binoxide. Two equivalents of oxygen combined with a metallic base. 

Brachmans. Ancient philosophers of India. 

Bronchocele. A tumor on the fore part of the neck ; the Derbyshire neck. 

CcBcal. Appertaining to the caecum. 

Ccecum. The first portion of the large intestine, perforated at one end only. 

Caseine. That ingredient in milk which is neither coagulated spontaneously, 
like fibrine, nor by heat, like albumen, but by the action of acids alone. 
It is identical with legumine, and occurs in vegetables. 

Cellulose. The cellular substance of plants. 

jOerebral. Pertaining to the cerebrum or brain. 

Chyme. That particular modification which food assumes after it has un- 
dergone the action of the stomach. 



EXPLANATION OF TERMS 



Chijlopoietic. Having tlie power to change into chyle. 

Comparative Anatomij. That branch of anatomy which treats of the 
anatomy of other animals than man, with a view to compare their 
structure with that of human beings. 

Conventionalities. Artificial agreements in contradistinction to natural 
obligations. 

Development. The organic changes which take place in animals and vege- 
tables, from their embryo state until they arrive at maturity. 

Dextrine. The soluble or gummy matter into which the interior substance 
of starch-globules is convertible by diastase, or by certain acids ; it is 
convertible into grape-sugar by boiling. 

Diastase. A peculiar vegetable principle extracted by water from crushed 
malt. 

Diabetes Mellitus. A generally fatal disease, characterized by an immoder- 
ate flow of urine which abounds with sugar. 

Diathesis. Particular disposition or habit of body, good or bad. 

Enteritis. Inflammation of the intestines. 

Entozoa. A general name for those parasitical animals which infest the 
bodies of other animals, as intestinal worms. 

Farimacea. Grain, roots, and other vegetables yielding farina or flour. 

Fecula. Starch or farina. 

Fibrine. A form of albumen found in animals and vegetables. 

Glenoid. A term applied to some articular cavities of bones. 

Glucose. Grape-sugar. 

Gluten. A tough elastic substance left after washing out the starch from 
the flour of wheat and other grains ; found also in the juices of certain 
plants. Coagulated vegetable albumen, soluble in alcohol. 

Goitre. The bronchocele or Derbyshire neck. 

Ligesta. Aliments taken into the stomach, 

Insalivation. The act of mixing with saliva. 

Lactic acid. Procured from sour milk or whey. 

Legumine. A peculiar vegetable product obtained from peas, beans, kc. 

Lithates. Salts formed by lithic acid with a base. 

Lithic acid. An acid present in human urine ; sometimes called uric acid 

Mesentery. A membrane in the cavity of the abdomen. Its use is to re 
tain the intestines and their appendages in a proper position. 

Miasma. An infectious emanation floating in the air. 

Morceau. A bit, a morsel. 

Nascent. Beginning to exist ; coming into being. 
Nitrogen. See Azote. 



EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 



Normal. According to rule or principle. 

Oxide. A compound of oxygen with a metallic base. 

Pectin. Vegetable jelly, obtained by boiling ripe fruits with sugar and 

water ; or by mixing the juice with alcohol. 
Pedicuti. Apterous insects, commonly called lice. 
Peroxide. A base saturated with oxygen. 
Phosphates Combinations of phosphoric acid with lime, soda, potassa, and 

other bases. 
Protein. A chemical substance derived from albumen, fibrine, and caseine. 
Protoxide. The lowest compound of oxygen with a metallic base. 
Purpura hemorrhagica. An eruption of small purple specks and patches, 

caused by extravasation of blood under the cuticle. 
Saccharijiable. Convertible into sugar. 
Sodium. The metallic base of soda and common salt. 
Tabes. A wasting of the body. 
Tcenia. The tape-worm. 
Thoracic duct. The trunk of the absorbents. 
Tritoxide. Three equivalents of oxygen with a metallic base. 
Tubercle. A peculiar morbid product occurring in various textures of the 

body. 
Urate of Soda. A compound of uric acid with sodium. 
Urea. A constituent of urine. 
Uric acid. See lithic acid. / 



INTRODUCTION 



The ultimate object of animal life being pleasure, the law of self-preser- 
vation, or the love of life, will remain in full force so long as the sensations 
of pleasure are not outweighed by those of pain, or until the organs of 
sense become indiCferent to their accustomed stimuli. Every creature, 
therefore, is so wisely constructed, and endowed with such instincts, as in- 
duce it to make choice of those means which are best calculated to maiu- 
tain and preserve its existence : were not this the case, anunal life would 
soon terminate. 

But as individual life has a commencement, so also has it an end ; and 
though the laws of nature should be at all times implicitly obeyed, and 
circumstances should be of the most favorable khid, yet there is a limit 
beyond which none can pass, — when vitality must yield to the universal 
range of chemical influence. Even man, the last and most complete result 
of Divine workmanship, is no exception to this general rule ; nor can all 
his wisdom and intelligence reveal to him the means of escaping the sen- 
tence passed upon the father of our race : " Dust thou art, and unto dust 
shalt thou return I" This, however, should not deter him from investigating 
the laws of mortality, and the causes which hasten or p*"otract the period of 
old age and dea^. " Know thyself!" was the advice of the ancient sage ; 
and it is still further enforced upon our attention by t>^ well known line of 
Pope, — 

"The proper study of mankind is maD-" 

It should, indeed, be our first endeavor to become acquainted with our 
position in the universe ; — to mark the relation in whicli we stand to sur- 
rounding objects ; to inquire how health and happiness, present and future, 
may be best promoted ; diligently and faithfully to examine in what cases 
we have misconceived or departed from the laws of nature, by the observ- 
ance of which health may be maintained, and longevity promoted ; and, 
finally, to ascertain by what means physical and moral evil may be dimi 
nished, and the universal reign of peace and harmony established. 

The man who woirid enjoy the greatest happiness for the longest period 

(2n 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

should first determine the laws which influence health, for upon this depends 
a material portion of human happiness ; and, secondly, he should endeavor 
to discover what subjects are most worthy of his close attention and steady 
pursuit. Clearly and fully to ascertain these important points, requires no 
slight consideration ; but, havmg once satisfactorily settled these weighty 
questions, so far as our present knowledge will permit us, we should reso- 
lutely practise what reason shows to be most desirable ; and habit, once 
gained, will render the future pursuit easy and pleasant. 

The superior endowments of man place him far above the rest of crea- 
tion ; so that he is not under the necessity of submitting, in all cases, to 
the dictates of instinct and passion ; for by the possession of higher intel- 
lectual faculties, he is enabled to resist, and greatly to modify, the simple 
suggestions of nature. In many instances, however, man has abused this 
privilege ; for instead of using his reason as the handmaid, guardian, and 
assistant of instinct, he has placed them in collision ; and the uses of the 
one have been perverted and overborne by the mischievous meddling of the 
other. Hence the formation of unnatural and injurious habits ; which 
have become as powerful as original instincts, withdrawn his attention from 
his best interests, weakened the true principles of his nature, and entailed 
npon himself and society sickness, vice, and misery. 

" Eeasoning at every step they tread. 
Men yet mistake their way ; 
While meauer things, by instinct led, 
Are rarely known to stray." 

When, by daily repetition, and by the powerful influence of social inter- 
ooursc and national prejudice, habits have been long established, emancipa- 
tion from their control becomes an almost impossible task ; and when either 
practice or opinion is nearly universal, its propriety or truth is seldom 
questioned. If, by any means, the attention of an individual be directed 
to the consideration of a generally-received opinion, and he arrive at a 
conviction opposite to that of the society by which he is surrounded, there 
is little chance of his making many converts ; nay, the probability is that, 
however clear and confirmed his ^aews may at one time appear to himself, 
he wiU gradually yield to the overwhelming influence of example, and the 
frequently - expressed opinions of his associates; for a weak objection 
acquires all the force of a strong one, by repetition. If, however, a man 
have sufficient decision and courage to depart from the usages of society 
where he considers them wrong and injurious, or resolutely and perscver 
ingly to maintain any unpopular belief, — more especially if opposed to the 
appetites and pleasures of mankind, — he may calculate upon being laughed 



INTRODUCTION. 28 



at for his singularity, and perhaps subjected to the daily jeers and witticisms 
of those who are carried along the stream of public opinion or local cus- 
toms. The doctrine or practice is attributed by them to whim, caprice, 
eccentricity, or some still more unworthy motive. Every new opinion, 
therefore, though capable of the clearest demonstration, must necessarily 
be slow in its progress. Most people are so busily engaged with their 
daily avocations, that they have no leisure to consider a subject which de- 
mauds time and attention, and less inclination when that subject is repre- 
sented as a novelty. Some, perhaps, though convinced, deem it of too 
little consequence to demand a change of habit ; while others possess too 
little moral courage to brave the taunting observations of their companions. 
Thus are the same customs continued through long periods of time ; and 
the thinking few are held in thraldom by the o» iroXkoi, or unthinking many ; 
80 that ** the discoveries of one generation can only become the established 
and influential truths of the next." 

It is, however, our duty and interest to inquire, how far the practices 
and habits of mankind accord with the original intentions of nature ; and 
what effect any departure from truth, if I may be allowed the expression, 
has had upon our health, happiness, and longevity. To trace all the errors 
of mankind in this respect, would be an endless, if not altogether an im- 
possible task ; for — the functions of some organs having been vitiated, and 
the senses very much impaired — it requires great care lest we mistake the 
perverted for the original use, and thereby find " the light that is in" us to 
" be darkness." Nay, mankind now live in such an artificial state, that it 
would be almost impossible to dispense with many acquired habits ; they have 
become, as it were, essential to their comfort and well-being : all changes, 
therefore, should be adopted with caution, lest, by too sudden a return to 
nature, we infiict upon ourselves and the community a greater injury than 
we are endeavoring to cure. 

" But pliant nature more or less demands 
As custom forms her ; and all sudden change 
She hates of habit, even from bad to good. 
K faults in life, or new emergencies, 
From habits urge you by long time confirmed, 
Slow may the change arrive, and stage by stage ; 
Slow as the shadow o'er the dial moves, 
^low as the stealing progress of the year." 

Armsteong. 

But as, without bodily health, physical strength, and mental vigor, man 
is rendered miserable, and incapable of securing to himself that full amount 
of enjoyment and longevity which nature has placed within his reach, and 
qualified him for attaining ; he should carefully note all such circumstances 



«4 INTRODUCTION. 

as exercise a direct or indirect influence over the development of liis organ- 
ization, which is the foundation upon which the superstructure of all that 
is great, good, and desirable in human nature must be erected. 

To no subject, perhaps, do these observations more directly apply, than 
to that of human diet. Every latitude of the earth has its peculiar pro- 
ductions ; and every division of society has its special and long-established 
modes of satisfying the hunger and thirst, which remind man of the changes 
incessantly taking place in the animal structure. In the warmer regions 
of our planet, vegetable substances chiefly constitute the nutriment of our 
race ; some feasting on delicious fruits ; others on food of a more farinaceous 
description, such as rice, sago, and maize, with a variety of other grains 
and roots. In temperate climes, man appears of a more omnivorous cha- 
racter ; and, while indulging his appetite with a multiplicity of rich dishes 
from the vegetable world, he is still more luxurious in highly-seasoned pre- 
parations from the flesh of almost every class and order of the animal 
kingdom. In the colder regions, — so unfavorable to the production of 
vegetable substances, as well as to human development, — ^man is under the 
necessity of resorting to an almost exclusively animal diet ; so that the 
Esquimaux feeds with as great a relish upon train-oil and sawdust, as the 
WaUachian does .on fruit, or the Brahman on rice ; and to the Greenlander, 
the half-frozen, half-putrid flesh of the seal is as choice a morceau as a 
woodcock to an English gourmand. Thus, through the various climates 
of our globe, every variety of food — vegetable as well as animal — is com- 
peUed, in one shape or other, to supply nutriment to the human organism ; 
yet health and long life seem limited to no particular district, nor confined 
to any precise kind of diet. We are not from this, however, to conclude, 
that man may indulge in all kinds of food with impunity ; or that each kind, 
whether of an animal or vegetable nature, is equally productive of a healthy 
state of the body, or equally favorable to longevity ; for though the habits 
of a nation may be correct as regards food, many other injurious customs 
or circumstances may neutralize the good effects of a natural diet, and place 
the people on a par with those whose food is not so well adapted to their 
constitution. Most people in this country are aware of the necessity of 
attending to diet ; and it is a matter of universal experience, that in hot 
climates, a mixed diet, in which animal food abounds, is productive of dis- 
ease ; while in cold climates, fat, oil,'^ or other carbonaceous compounds, are 

* This passage seems obscure. Fat and oil may be necessary as food in cold climates, be- 
cause nothing else can be procured in sufficient quantity ; not because of their carbonaceous 
nature merely. All ordinary vegetable foods contain all the carbon requisite for sustenance, 
respiration, and animal heat, as far as the element of carbon is concerned.. T. 



INTRODUCTION. 26 

absolutely necessary to man's existence. The fact is that, in all regions of 
the globe, the diet of man has been determined by the circumstances in 
which he has been placed, rather than by the exercise of his primitive and 
uucorrupted instincts, or the rational deductions of a sound understanding. 
The following questions, therefore, seem to be suggested for our consider- 
ation : — 

I. What was the original food of man ? 

II. Is he so wonderfully constructed, that climate and locality alone de- 
termine on what substances he shaU feed ? Or does his organization, like 
that of other animals, manifest a special adaptation to one specific kind of 
food, but with an extensive range of adaptability to the greatest variety of 
animal and vegetable productions ? 

III. What is the best food of man ; or, what diet do science and expe- 
rience point out, as best calculated for promoting health, happiness, and 
longevity ? 

rv. What seems designed to be hereafter the universal diet of mankind ? 

I shall now attempt to show, that there are data sufficient for enabling 
us to solve these important questions ; which, although totally independent 
of each other so far as evidence is concerned, are, notwithstanding, so inti- 
mately connected in other respects, that the answer to one being fully 
established, the others may be legitimately derived as corollaries from it. 
A distinct line of evidence will be observed, however, in the solution of each 
question ; and I hope ultimately to prove, that fruits and roots, with other 
farinaceous and succulent vegetables, wdre the original food of mankind ; 
that they are the natural and best food ; and will hereafter become the 
universal food of our race. After many years' attentive consideration of 
the subject, I cannot but regard it as materially affecting the interests and 
happiness of man ; and I trust, therefore, the reader will not hastily dismiss 
the arguments advanced, but will diligently consider and weigh the evidence 
for himself; biased as little as possible by the pleasurable associations which, 
upon this subject, are so apt to oppose candid inquiry, to warp the judg- 
ment, and to render nugatory the deliberate convictions of the understand- 
mg. A delicate morsel is often too strong a temptation to be resisted, 
even when we know that future pain will be the result of the indiscretion. 
Arguments, however strong, and reasons, however clear and logical, are 
2 



26 INTRODUCTION 

apt to lose their force, when opposed by appetite and pleasure. " It is a 
hard and difficult task," as Cato observes, " to undertake to dispute with 
men's stomachs, which have no ears ;" but — 

"Ita fit, ratio prsesit, appetitus obtemperet." 

A time will doubtless come, though we may not live to witness it, when 
man will become more rational, and when his inquiry will be, " What is 
truth?" — ^not, "What suits my perverted appetites?" — for truth is the 
road to all excellence : all its ends must be good ; and all its effects on man 
must be pure pleasure and real happiness. " Time is the cradle of know- 
ledge. Time will wear out the old clothing of thought, when reason and 
common sense will come to be the fashion." All truths — whether of a 
physical, moral, or religious nature — ^must harmonize ; because they all 
flow from the same universal Source of Good ; and must terminate in pro- 
ducing the greatest amount of happiness of which the nature of man is sus- 
ceptible. 



PAET I. 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 



CHAPTER I. 



EVIDENCE FROM THE WRITINGS OF MOSES AND FROM TRADITION. 

Kal eluEV 6 Qebg, ^iSov deSojKa vfilv navra xopTOV OTr6pLfj,ov 
GTTELpov arrepfia, o eonv eivdvo) ndoi^g rrjg yrjg ' koI ndv ^vXov, o 
EKEi ev eavTG) Xaprrbv anepfiarng Gnopi'iMOv, vimv EGrai etg l3pGJGLV. 
— Uen. i. 29. ' 

[Note 2. "And God said, Behold, 1 have given you every herb bearing 
seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which 
■is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it shall be for meat."' 

The reader will bear in mind that the word " meat" often occurs in Scrip- 
ture as synonymous with food. T.] 

1. Information respecting the Original Food of Man is necessarily in- 
cluded within very narrow limits ; but all accessible sources are decidedly 
in favor of its having been derived from the vegetable kingdom. Sacred and 
profane authors unite in representing the progenitors of our race as fru- 
givorous. At a subsequent period, they are stated to have fed upon plants 
of a more herbaceous character ; and at a still later period, they are re- 
corded as having become " riotous eaters of the flesh" of other animals. 
These periods are also characterized by different states of innocence, virtue, 
justice and happiness ; and correspond to the golden, silver, brazen, and 
iron ages of the poets. 

2. Moses, after describing, with great force and beauty, the progress of 
creation, and finally the production of (a'lJi^)* Adam, or man, thus proK 
ceeds : "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed 

* Gosenlus, and other Hebraists, do not consider f^j^ as the proper name of the first man, 
but as an appellative referring to the race of mankind. 

(29) 



80 ^ ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN 



which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the 
fruit of a tree yielding seed ; — to you it shall be for meat." (Gen. i. 29.) 
Here we have plainly and distinctly stated, what God intended should be 
the food of mankind ; and which, no doubt, would be best adapted to his 
nature, most conducive to his health, happiness, and longevity ; and the 
best calculated (so far as food is concerned) for preserving purity of mind, 
and for subjugating the passions to the mental powers. Man, at his first 
creation, was placed in a situation in which he might find abundance of 
such delicious fruits as were adapted to please his eye, gratify his taste, and 
contribute to his bodily and mental vigor ; for we are further informed, 
that " The Lord God planted a garden'^ eastward in Eden ; and there he 
put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord 
God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food : 
the tree of life, also, in the midst of the garden ; and the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil." (Gen. ii. 8, 9.) "And the Lord God took the man, 
and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the 
Lord God commanded the man, saying. Of every tree of the garden thou 
mayest freely eat ; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou 
shalt not eat : for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." 
(Gen. ii. 15—17.) 

3. No one, I think, can mistake the language here employed ; or arrive 
at any other conclusion, than that fruit and herbs bearing seed were ex- 
pressly granted as the food of man ; and we shall find that his organization 
was in perfect harmony with this divine command. He was placed in tlie 
garden of Eden, or " garden of delight," that he might " dress it and keep 
it," for the purpose of supplying him with all such fruits as were " pleasant 
to the sight, and good for food." Some have contended, that this food is 
not sufficient to sustain the health and vigor of man ; l^ut we may rest as- 
sured, that what is of divine appointment will be amply sufficient to pro- 
duce the effect intended. 

4. In the works of the Greek and Latin authors we meet with frequent 
allusions to this period, in which man lived in a state of innocence aad 
happiness ; — ^the " golden age," when he fed upon the delicious fruits of the 
earth ; when his bodily strength and mental energies were in great perfec- 
tion ; when human life extended through such long periods of time, that 
the men or heroes of those days were considered immortal ; when peace 

* The Hesperidum Horti, or Gardens of the Hesperides,— producing golden apples, (as the 
mythologists represent,)— appear to have derived their name from T*|5 ^^'2 (nsz peri), a 
fruit tree,; and in allusion to the Garden of Eden hero described. 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 31 

reigned throughout tlie whole creation ; and when a perpetual spring ren- 
dered the earth abundantly productive. Ovid* thus describes this 

state : 

"The golden age was first, when man, yet new, 
No rule but uncorrupted reason knew ; 
And, with a native bent, did good pursue. 
Unforced by punishment, unawed by fear. 
His words were simple and his soul sincere. 
Needless was written law, where none oppressed ; 
The law of man was written in his breast. 
No suppliant crowds before the judge appeared ; 
No court erected yet, nor cause was heard ; 
But all was safe ; for conscience was their guard. 
The mountain trees in distant prospect please. 
Ere yet the pine descended to the seas : 
Ere sails were spread, new oceans to explore. 
And happy mortals, unconcerned for more. 
Confined their wishes to their native shore. 
No walls were yet; nor fence, nor moat, nor mound, 
>or drum was heard, nor trumpet's angry sound; 
Nor swords were forged ; but, void of care and crime. 
The soft creation slept away their time. 
The teeming earth, yet guiltless of the plough, 
And unprovoked, did fruitful stores allow : 
Content with food which nature freely bred, 
On wildings and on strawberries they fed ; 
Cornels and bramble-berries gave the rest, 
And falling acorns furnished out a feast. 
The flowers, unsown, in fields and meadows reigned ; 
And western winds immortal spring maintained. 
In following years, the bearded corn ensued 
From earth unasked, nor was that earth renewed. 
From veins of valleys milk and nectar broke ; 
And honey sweating through the pores of oak." 

5. The same poet — after describing the horrid cruelties inflictea upon 
animals, in order to appropriate their flesh as food — observes : 

" Not so the golden age, who fed on fruit, 
Nor durst with bloody meals their mouths pollute. 
Then birds in airy space might safely move, 
And timorous hares on heaths securely rove : 
Nor needed fish the guileful hooks to fear. 
For all was peaceful ; and that peace sincere.'"t 

6. The golden age is described, in heathen mythology, as under the 
dominion of Saturn ; when, according to Dicearchus, as related by Saint 
Jerome in his books on Grecian antiquities, no man ate flesh ; but all lived 

* Metamorphoses, Book 1., L. 118; Dryden's translation. 
t Metamorphoses, Book xv., L. 187 ; Dryden's translation. 



82 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 

upon fruits and pulse, whicli were abundantly produced ; and when, as Vir- 
gil remarks — 

" No fences parted fields, nor marks, nor bounds 
DistinguisUed acrcg of litigious gi'ounds ; 
But all was common ; and the fruitful earth 
Was free to give her unexacted birth."* 

7 Pope, in reference to the same period, observes : 

" Nor think in Nature's state they blindly trod ; 
The state of Nature was the reign of God : 
Self-love and social at her birth began ; 
Union the bond of all things, and of man. 
Pride then was not, nor arts, that pride to aid ; 
Man walked with beast, joint-tenant of the shade 
The same his table, and the same his bed; 
No murder clothed him, and no murder fed. 
In the same temple, the resounding wood, 
All vocal beings hymned their equal God; 
The shrine Avith gore unstained, with gold undrest, 
Unbribed, unbloody, stood the blameless priest : 
Heaven's attribute was universal care, 
And man's prerogative to rule, but spare. 
Ah ! how unlike the man of times to come I •• 

Of half that live the butcher and the tomb ; 
"Who, foe to Nature, hears the general groan. 
Murders their species, and betrays his own. 
But just disease to luxury succeeds. 
And every death its own avenger breeds; 
The fury-passions from that blood began, 
And turned on man a fiercer savage — man."t 

8. Similar to this is the language of Thomson, in reference to the same 
period. Speaking of herbs, he says : 

"But who their virtues can declare ? "Who pierce, 
"With vision pure, into their secret stores 
Of health, and life, and joy ? The food of man, 
"While yet he lived in innocence, and told 
A length of golden years; unfleshed in blood, 
A stranger to the savage arts of life. 
Death, rapine, carnage, surfeit, and disease ; 
The lord, and not the tyrant, of the world.''^ 

9. This primeval state of innocence and bliss, however, did not long con- 
tinue. Man forsook the way of peace ; and, by vainly assuming a know- 
ledge at variance with the law of his God and his nature, he ate of forbid- 
den food, and thus lost the image in which he had been created. He was 
therefore no longer a fit inhabitant of Paradise ; but was driven into less 

• Georgics, i., L. 193. t Essay on Man, Epis. iii., L. 147, t Spring, L. 283. 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 88 

productive climes, wliere the very earth refused to yield its increase with- 
out toil and labor. " Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt 
thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it 
bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herh of the field. In the sweat 
of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out 
of it wast thou taken ; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 
(Gen. iii. 17—19.) 

10. I shall not stop to inquire, whether these expressions refer to the 
change of climate man would experience, in consequence of his expulsion 
from Eden ; or whether they refer to some remarkable change which took 
place in the general fertility of the earth. It is certain, from numerous 
geological data, that great alterations have been gradually taking place in 
the earth's atmosphere ; particularly by a diminution of its temjierature and 
carbonic acid ; which would greatly afifect vegetable productions, and ren- 
der culture and art much more necessary to bring them to perfection. But 
there is no evidence, as yet, to show that any material changes have taken 
place since the creation of man. In whatever way the passage of Scrip- 
ture may be interpreted, one thing is evident ; namely, that man, after his 
transgression, could no longer enjoy that abundance and variety of deli- 
cious fruit with which he was originally favored ; except as the result of 
great labor, industry, and experience ; and even then he would fi'equently 
have to derive his subsistence from roots, corn, and other farinaceous and 
succulent vegetables : in fact, he must " eat the herb of the field." 

11. To this period, it is probable, Ovid alludes, when he describes the 
silver age, under the dominion of Jupiter : 

" Succeeding times a silver age behold, — 
Excelling brass, but more excelled by gold. 
Then summer, autumn, winter did appear, 
And spring was but a season of the year ; 
The sun his annual course obliquely madej 
Good days contracted, and enlarged the bad. 
The air with sultry heats began to glow ; 
The wings of winds were Clogged with ice and snow ; 
And shivering mortals, into houses driven, 
Sought shelter from the inclemency of heaven. 
Those houses, then, were caves, or homely sheds; 
With twining osiers fenced, and moss their beds. 
Then ploughs, for seed, the fruitful furrows broke, 
And oxen labored first beneath the yoke."* 

21. Up to this period, man seems to have derived his support from the 
vegetable world alone ; and upon this food his life was prolonged to vast 

* Metamorphoses, Book !., L. l46. 



34 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 

periods of time. According to the generally-received chronology of the 
Scriptures, the average duration of patriarchal life, previously to the Deluge, 
was about nine hundred years. Immediately after the Flood, when animal 
food was permitted as an article of diet, the average period of life was 
reduced to four hundred years ; and when Jacob lived, it had gradually 
declined to one hundred and fifty years. This abbreviated period of human 
existence may not have been the effect solely of animal diet ; but it doubt- 
less had a considerable influence. 

13. Lucretius, when describing the first ages of mankind, observes : 

"The nerves that joined their limbs were firm and strong ; 
Their life Avas healthy, and their age was long : 
Eeturning years still saw them in their prime ; 
They wearied e'en the wings of measuring time : 
No colds nor heats, no strong diseases wait, » 

And tell sad news of coming hasty fate ; 
Nature not yet grew weak, nor yet began 
To shrink into an inch the larger span."* 

14. Sauchoniathon, a Phoenician historian who flourished about four 
hundred years after Moses, says, that " the first men lived upon the plants 
shooting out of the ground." Hesiod, the Greek poet, also says, " the un- 
cultivated fields aSbrded them their fruits, and supplied their bountiful and 
unenvied repast." So also Lucretius : 

" Soft acorns were their first and chiefest food, 
And those red apples that adorn the wood."t 

15. Similar testimony respecting the food and longevity of the ancients 
is also alBforded by Mauetho, who wrote the Egyptian History ; Berosus, 
who collected the Chaldean monuments ; Mochus, Hestiseus, Hierouymus 
the Egyptian, and those who composed the Phoenician History ; also by 
Hecatseus, Hellanicus, Acusilaus, Ephorus, Nicolaus, Diodorus Siculus, 
Herodotus, Strabo, and Jerome of Egypt. 

16. ^ElianJ tells us, " that the diet of the first race of men differed accord- 
ing to the different productions of their respective countries : the Athenians 
lived on figs, the Argives on pears, and the Arcadians on acorns." Hero- 
dotus, who wrote about four hundred and fifty years before Christ, relates 
that, " upon the death of Lycurgus, the Lacedemonians, meditating the 
conquest of Arcadia, were told by the Oracle, that there were many brave 
BaknvYjcpayoi civ^^zg [acorn-eaters] in that country, who would repel them 
if they attempted to carry their arms thither ; as it afterwards happened." 

* Creech's Translation, Book v., L. 981. t Ibid. Book v., L. 997. 

t ^lian Hist. Var., L. 3, ch. 89. 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 85 

Pliny also, the Roman naturalist, says : " Mankind in the first ages sub- 
sisted on acorns ;" and Galcu — the celebrated Roman physician, who 
flourished in the second century of the Christian era — assures us, iu his 
work on Human Aliment, that "acorns afford as good nourishment as 
many sorts of grain ; that in ancient times men lived on acorns only ; and 
that the Ai'cadiaus continued to eat them long after the rest of Greece had 
begun to make use of bread-corn."* President de Goguet, in his work on 
the Origin of Laws, Arts, and Sciences, observes : " The first generations 
of mankind subsisted chiefly on plants, roots, and fruits ; of whose quali- 
ties they had no previous knowledge." 

17. Dr. William Hillary, in his Inquiry into the Means of Improving 
Medical Knowledge, says : " Their food, during the first ages of the world, 
was taken from and chiefly consisted of vegetables, and their fruits and 
seeds, with the addition of milk from their flocks ; and water was their 
drink." He also infers that, as their food was plain and simple, their dis- 
eases were also simple and few, and therefore more easily cured — either 
solely by the efforts of nature, or, when the assistance of art was necessary, 
by the help of a few simple medicines or applications — than they were 
afterwards, when diseases were increased, and more complicated by the 
various inventions of luxury. Porphyry, a Platonic philosopher of the 
third century, — a man of great talents and learning, and of very extensive 
research and observation, — investigated the subject of human diet with 
great care and diligence. He says : " The ancient Greeks lived entirely 
on the fruits of the earth." 

18. Hippocratesf and CelsusJ confirm these statements respecting the 
primitive regimen of mankind ; and, iu fact, " all writers of antiquity, of 
every nation, — historians, physicians, philosophers, and poets, — assert that 
the first generations of men, who lived nearly a thousand years, were per- 
fectly natural and simple in their diet." 

19. How long mankind continued to live upon the simple productions 
of the earth, we have no means of ascertaining. St. Jerome, Chrysostom, . 
Theodoret, and other ancients, as well as moderns, maintain that all animal 
food was strictly forbidden before the Flood : but long before that event 
they had transgressed the law of God ; and there can be little doubt that 
the flesh of animals had, for some time previously, formed a material part 
of their diet. "We read, that " all flesh had corrupted his way upon the 



* Galen de Aliment. Facult., L, 2, ch. 88. 
t Hlppoc. de Prisca Medicin. p. 9, (foL ed.) 
t Celsus in Prsefat, p. 2. 



36 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN 

earth ;"* and that " the earth was filled with violence through them :" and 
God said : " Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years, "f 

20. When the Deluge had swept away the first generations of man, per- 
mission appears to have been granted to him to eat flesh-meat ; as we learn 
from the following words : " Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat 
for you ; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh 
with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. "J I am 
aware that certain advocates of a vegetable diet take a different view of 
this, and some other passages of Scripture, and believe that the flesh of 
animals for human food is still prohibited. I am inclined, however, to 
admit the full force of such passages ; and to acknowledge that man is not, 
since the Flood, restricted by the law of God from partaking of animal 
food.^ It was, doubtless, foreseen by the Omniscient, that mankind would, 
in obedience to his command, " be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the 
earth :"|| that they would, in consequence of emigration and various other 
causes, frequently be placed in such circumstances that fruits, roots, rice, 
wheat, and other grains, could not be procured. Man, however, is so ad- 
mirably organized as to be capable of inhabiting every clime : he is not 
only to " replenish the earth," but to " subdue it ;" to bring it into a state 
of universal cultivation, and to " have dominion over every thing that 
moveth upon the earth." In accomplishing these divine purposes, he would 
frequently be exposed to great privations ; for as grass, and other inferior 
herbage, affording support to herbivorous animals only, are the sole pro- 
ductions of cold climates, man would be under the necessity of becoming 
carnivorous, until art and industry have rendered the soil of any newly in- 
habited part of the earth fruitful and productive. Plutarch, in reference 
to this, observes : "And truly, as for those people who first ventured upon 
the eating of flesh, it is very probable that the sole reason of their doing 
so was scarcity and want of other food." If, then, the original restriction 
as to food had not been relaxed, man, in obeying the impulses of nature to 
preserve his ovra life, would have broken the law of God ; but the moral 

* Genesis vi. 19, 13. t Genesis vl. 3. t Genesis ix. 3, 4. 

§ Some of my reviewers have adduced Peter's vision and other passages of Scripture, in 
vindication of the use of animal diet ; but as I have fully acknowledged that the use of ani- 
mals for food was permitted after the Flood, I think it unnecessary to answer any such objec- 
tions. I deprecate, as much as any one can do, all appeals to Scripture upon points which 
science is fully competent to decide, and have only referred to the historical portions for the 
purpose of showing what was the original food of man, and of marking the period when 
further latitude was granted him. If it can be shown that a frnit and farinaceous diet is most 
consistent with the physical, mental, and moral nature of man, and that it is nowhere forbid- 
den in Scripture, this is all the sanction the vegetarian requires. 

II Genesis i. 28, and ix. 1. 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN ST 

and physical laws of an all-wise Creator are always in strict conformity 
with each other. Man was to increase, multiply, and replenish the earth, 
and subdue it ; — to have dominion over all animals, in all climates : it is 
therefore consistent with all correct views of divine government to expect 
that he would receive such an organization from the divine hand as would 
render him capable of subsisting on the greatest variety of food, — the pro- 
ductions of all climates ; with full liberty to use all such as he might be 
induced, by his instincts or reasoning faculties, to adopt, as circumstances 
might require. The flesh of animals, therefore, could not be excepted ; for, 
in many climates, no other food could be procured. 

21. But we are not thence to infer, that the digestive organs of man are 
the best adapted to an animal or even a mixed diet, (the contrary of which 
I hope to prove hereafter ;) nor are we to conclude, that because animal 
food is permitted to man,^ therefore a more wholesome diet cannot be em- 
ployed in situations where it can be procured. We must be careful to dis- 
guish between divine permission and divine command : there is a kind of 
relative fitness in morals as well as in physics ; and what may be convenient 
and lawful in certain circumstances, may be highly imj^roper in others, or 
under a different dispensation. 

[Note 3. No branch of the scriptural argument is so much harped 
upon by our opponents as this ''permission " to eat flesh ; yet, what is pass- 
ing strange, these same permissionists will acknowledge that God has, in the 
plainest possible language, commended or ordained the vegetable kingdom 
as the source of man's sustenance. The permission to have a plurality of 
wives in ancient times might as well be alleged against the modern notion of 
every man having " his own wife." All permission to violate a natural, a 
social, or a moral law, is accompanied with the condition that the wrong- 
doer suffer the penalty. T.] 

22. God has permitted evil to exist, — moral as well as physical ; but 
man is not justified, as a moral agent, in causing either. The Pharisees, 
when objecting to the teachings of Christ respecting marriage, said: 
" Why did Moses, then, command to give a writing of divorcement, and to 
put her away ? He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of 
your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives ; but from the beginning 
it was not so."* Under a former dispensation, a principle of retribution 
was admitted ; — " an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth ;" — " to love 

» Matt, six , 8 



88 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 

our neighbor and hate our enemy ;" but now we are commanded " to love 
our eneinles, to bless them that curse us, to do good to them that hate us, 
and to pray for them that despitefuUy use us and persecute us." David, 
Solomon, and others, were permitted a plurality of wives and concubines ; 
but the Mediator of a better covenant ordains otherwise for his followers. 
Things may be lawful that are not expedient ; and man may be allowed 
the use of what might be to his advantage and happiness to reject. 
Throughout the Scriptures we shall find the dispensations of God suited 
to the circumstances of His people ; and the language in which His servants 
communicate His will, and a knowledge of His works, always condescend- 
ingly adapted to the information and mental capacity of those for whom 
it is intended. " I have yet many things to say unto you," observes the 
Saviour, ** but ye cannot bear them now." Upon a careful examination 
of Scripture, we shall find that all things connected with man's duty to 
God and his neighbor are revealed in such clear and simple language, " that 
a wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein ;" but, with respect 
to meats and drinks, man is left to the guidance of those instincts and men- 
tal faculties with which he is endowed, with full permission to use all the 
" good creatures" of God as his wants may dictate ; — due regard being 
paid to mercy, truth, benevolence, moderation, and sobriety. 

23. Without any disparagement to the cause of vegetable diet, there- 
fore, ii; may be conceded, that animal food was permitted after the Deluge, 
when " men began to multiply on the face of the earth." But long after 
this e-/ent, the Patriarchs and their descendants confined themselves prin- 
cipally to a vegetable diet ; for fruits, honey, milk, butter, bread, and some 
simple preparations of seeds and mild herbs, were the plain, healthful food 
of the people for many ages afterwards. On joyous and festive occasions 
the faited calf was killed ; but their usual diet was derived from the vege- 
table kingdom, and the produce of their flocks and herds ; and, even to this 
day, the inhabitants of Syria, Mesopotamia, and other countries, live after 
tie same manner. 

24. Assaad Y okoob Kayat, a native Syrian, in a speech at Exeter Hall, 
(May 16, 1338,) remarked, that he had lately visited Mount Lebanon, 
wliere he found the people as large as giants, and very strong and active. 
Tb.ey lived almost entirely on dates, and drank only water ; and there were 
many among them one hundred and one hundred and ten years of age. 
Burckhardt, also, in his remarks on the Bedouins, says : " Their usual fare 
(callec! aijesh) consists of flour made into a paste with sour camel's milk. 
This is their daily and universal dish ; and the richest sheik would think 
it disgraceful to order his wife to prepare any other dish, merely to please 
his own palate. The Arabs never indulge in animal food, and other hizu- 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 39 



ries, except or. the occasion of some great festival, or on the arrival of a 
Btrangcr. If the guest be a common person, bread is baked and served up 
with a'jesh ; if the guest be a person of some small consequence, coffee is 
prepared for him, and also the dish called behatta, (rice or flour boiled with 
sweet earners milk,) or that called fteta, (baked paste, kneaded up thorough- 
ly with butter ;) but for a man of some rank, a kid or lamb is killed." 

25. In process of time, however, the use of animal food became much 
more prevalent, particularly in temperate and cold climates ; and there is 
every reason to believe that cruelty, immorality, and disease, marked the 
progress of man in this unnatural diet. This period is characterized by 
the poets as the brazen and iron ages, when — 

" Truth, modesty, and shame the world forsook ; 
Fraud, avarice, and force, their places took. 
Then sails were spread to every -wind that blew ; 
Eaw were the sailors, and the depths were new : 
Trees, rudely hollowed, did the waves sustain. 
Ere ships in triumph ploughed the watery plain. 
The land-marks limited to each his right, 
For all before was common as the light ; 
Nor was the ground alone required to bear 
Her annual income to the crooked share ;■ 
But greedy mortals, rummaging her store, 
Digged from her entrjiils first the precious ore, 
(Which next to hell the prudent gods had laid,) 
And that alluring ill to sight displayed. 
Thus cursed steel, and more accursed gold, 
Gave mischief birth, and made that mischief bold 
And double death did wretched man invade, 
By steel assaulted, and by gold betrayed: 
Faith flies, and piety in exile mourns ; 
And justice, here oppressed, to heaven returns."* 

26. ThQ various changes to which the earth and its inhabitants have 
been subjected, are alluded to in the fables of Chaos, Tellus, (or Terra,) 
Coelus, Oceanus^ Hyperion, Rhea, Japetus, Saturn, Jupiter, Prometheus, &c. 

27. Prometheus (n^o|X?i&5uj) — one who uses forethought, a contriver — is 
represented as having stolen fire from heaven, (which would be necessary to 
render animal food at all palatalDle to man ;) for which crime he was chained 
to Mount Caucasus, where a vulture continually devoured his liver, which 
was never diminished, but continued to increase as it was fed upon. Hesiod 
says that, before the time of Prometheus, mankind were exempt from suf- 
fering, enjoying a vigorous youth ; and that when death did arrive, it was 

♦ Metamorpho86vS, Book i, L. 165. 



40 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 

without pain, and the eyes were gently closed as in sleep. Horace, in allud- 
ing to the theft of Prometheus, olDserves : 

" Thus, from the sun's ethereal beain, 
Whea bold Prometheus stole the enlivening flame, 
Of fevers dire a ghastly brood 
(Till then unknown) the unhappy fraud pursued ; 
On earth their horrors baleful spread; 
And the pale monarch of the dead, 
TiU then slow moving to his prey, 
Precipitately rapid swept his way.''* 

28. Mr. Newton, the author of the " Eeturn of Nature," gives the fol- 
lowing interpretation of this fable, in which Prometheus is thought to 
represent the human race : — " Making allowance for such transposition of 
the events of the allegory as time might produce, after the important 
truths were forgotten which this portion of the ancient mythology was 
intended to transmit, the drift of the fable seems to be this : Man, at his 
creation, was endowed with the gift of perpetual youth ; that is, he was 
formed not to be a sickly, suffering creature, as we now see him ; but to 
enjoy health, and to sink by slow degrees into the bosom of his parent 
earth, without disease or pain. Prometheus first taught the use of animal 
food {primus bovem occidet Prometheus) and of fire, with which to render it 
more digestible and pleasing to the taste. Jupiter, and the rest of the 
gods, foreseeing the consequences of these inventions, were amused or irri- 
tated at the short-sighted devices of the newly-formed creature, and left 
him to experience the sad effects of them. Thirst, the necessary concomi- 
tant of a flesh diet, perhaps of all diet vitiated by culinary preparations, 
ensued ; water was resorted to, and man forfeited the inestimable gift of 
health which he had received from Heaven ; he became diseased — the par- 
taker of a precarious existence ; and no longer descended slowly to his 
grave."! 

29. Halle, in his " Hygiene," entertained the opinion here advocated, 
respecting the various articles successively employed as human food. 
" Moses, in his history of the world," says he, " describes the different sub- 
stances which man successively included in the range of alimentary matter. 
He represents him as at first faithful to reason ; then transgressing the 
rules which it prescribes ; obedient to the laws of necessity, but yielding 
to the charms of pleasure with too faint a resistance ; satisfying his hunger 
with the fruits with which the trees in a happy climate abundantly sup- 
plied him ; then with the herbs and corn which he obtained from a more 
avaricious earth, as the reward of his labors ; with the milk of his flocks ; 

* Francis' Horace, book 1., Ode 8. t Eeturn to Nature, p. 9. 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 41 

i»-nd, finally, with their flesh : subjecting, also, the juices of vegetables to 
the process of fermentation ; and extracting from them liquors which re- 
cruit his exhausted strength, but which, when indulged in to excess, intoxi- 
cate and deprive him of reason. He exhibits to us the duration of life 
diminishing in proportion as he created to himself new wants." 



CHAPTER n. 

INFERENCES FROM THE ORIGINAL INNOCENCE OF MAN. 

30. Having adduced all the evidence I have been able to find, in sacred 
and profane history, respecting the primitive diet of man, I shall now pro- 
ceed to show that the state of innocence in which man was created is a 
strong argument in favor of vegetable diet. We are told that " God created 
man in his own image ; in the image of God created He him." (Genesis i. 
27.) Now, where shall we find this divine image, except in that state of 
innocence and moral perfection in which man originally existed ? Upright 
in mind, holy in heart, and righteous in action, the very thoughts of kill- 
ing or of cruelty could find no place in him. At peace with the whole 
animated creation, his presence would excite neither the fears of the timid 
nor the resentment or ferocity of the strong. The dominion he held over 
every living thing would be regulated by benevolence and kindness ; mercy 
would restrain him from doing injury to any one of the animals by which 
he was surrounded ; pity would move him to relieve every appearance of 
distress or pain ; a universal sympathy would characterize all his actions ; 
and his supreme pleasure and enjoyment would consist in serving his God 
and in rendering all creatures endowed with life and sensation happy and 
contented. The delicious fruits of Paradise would abundantly satisfy 
every craving of appetite ; and no motive could exist in his pure mind for 
shedding blood or inflicting pain. " Before the Deluge," says Bossuet, " the 
nourishment which men derived from fruits and herbs was doubtless a 
remnant of the primitive innocence and gentleness in which we were 
formed." 

31. Even in our degenerate state, the man of cultivated moral feeling 
shrinks from the task of taking the life of the higher grade of animals, 
and abhors the thought of inflicting pain and shedding blood ; how much 



42 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 

more, then, would purer minds and more feeling hearts be moved by the 
agonies and quivering limbs of creatures slaughtered for their appetite?* 
"While the state of innocence continued, the dominion of man over the 
animated creation was regulated by love and kindness ; but when he had 
lost the image in which he v/as created, — when a perverted appetite and a 
selfish principle prevailed against the dictates of reason and benevolence, — 
when blood had stained his hands, and guilt had hardened his heart, — 
when repeated acts of cruelty to dumb animals had blunted his feelings, 
and feasting on their flesh and blood had inflamed his passions, — in short, 
when immorality and violence had deluged the earth, then was he permit- 
ted to rule with a rod of iron, where before he had swayed the sceptre of 
peace ; and the language of Deity was — " The fear of you, and the dread 
of you, shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the 
air, and upon all that moveth upon the earth!" (Genesis ix. 2.) 

[Note 4. An eminent divine, in the course of a sermon lately delivered in 
a neighboring city, asked the significant but not uncommon question, " Who 
would want to have his son a butcher?" And why not? If the slaughter- 
ing of animals for food is the brutali2;ing and demoralizing occupation it 
is so generally represented to be, no one should pursue it. And if the 
butchery is wrong, I cannot understand how those who patronize the wrong 
by eating the flesh of the slaughtered animals can absolve themselves from 
the charge of being accessaries in wrong-doing. T.] 

32. But I need not dwell longer on this part of the subject, as, I believe, 
all whose feelings have not been greatly corrupted by habit will conclude 
that the taking of life would have been highly revolting to the minds of 
the first race of mankind ; and as our feelings are a part of our better 
nature, and the impress of divine power and wisdom, we may rest assured 
that an all-wise Creator would not have rendered a diet necessary to our 
health and happiness, which must be obtamed by doing incessant violence 
to our sympathies. 

33. Some there are who doubt or deny that man was either created in 
this state of high moral perfection, or that he was wise and intelligent. 
They believe that his condition has been progressive from rude barbarism 
to the refinement of civilized life. It would probably, therefore, have had 
greater weight with such persons if I had considered the race of man to 
be shadowed forth by his history as an individual from infancy to manhood, 
commencing with instinctive suggestions and terminating with a high state 
of intellectuality and moral rectitude. This might have led to a very dif- 
ferent arrangement of the subject, but we should have arrived at the same 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 43 



conclusions. All natural evidence respecting human diet, and all influences 
and motives directing man in the choice of his food, would be elicited by- 
contemplating him in the threefold character of an instinctive, a self-inte- 
rested, and a rational being. We shall find, upon careful examination, that 
each of these three motive-powers urge man in the same direction, not only 
as regards food, but as to all other means of producing health and happi- 
ness. We are to suppose, then, that man did not originally possess what 
we call knowledge — the fruit of long experience, and of a careful and long- 
continued observation of the laws of nature, or the result of ratiocina- 
tion, — but that his perceptions, feelings, and actions, (being uncontrolled 
by acquired knowledge, artificially-formed habits or gross selfishness,) were 
intuitive, and, therefore, perfect as far as they extended ; such as those we 
observe in the bee and many other animals, whose achievements frequently 
surpass tliose of man enlightened by reason. We must also admit, what 
few scientific and candid inquirers will be disposed to deny, that man is 
indigenous to the warmer regions of the earth, where fruits, his natural diet, 
as we shall shortly find, are most abundant and in greatest perfection. 
From a careful comparison, therefore, of man's instincts, his organization, 
his native climate and other related circumstances, we shall be justified in 
concluding that, though neither learned nor scientific, it is highly impro- 
bable he would be savage, ferocious, or immoral : these debasing qualities 
are the ofifspring of scarcity and selfishness, — ^the fruitful sources of almost 
every vice. Before mankind began to multiply on the earth in a favorable 
climate, their wants would be few ; and, fruits of delicious flavor being 
plenteously supplied, there is every probability that they would be simple 
and innocent in their habits and manners ; mild, frank, and generous in 
their conduct towards each other ; — and that they would practise, from 
native impulse, all the more general virtues which we learn as matters of 
duty or expedience. At this period they would be uncontaminated by the 
envy, strife, malice, treachery, and cruelty which too frequently character- 
ize a life of constant competition in civilized society ; where " each seeks 
his own," regardless of the wants, and frequently of the rights of his neigh- 
bor. In each state of society there is plenty for all ; but, in the latter, an 
indi\'idualizing and ambitious spirit leaves enough to none. As an instinct- 
ive being, then, man would be directed by the senses of sight, smell, and 
taste, to fruit as his natural diet; (Chap. III.;) and his social and sensitive 
feelings would deter him from killing animals and feeding on their flesh, so 
long as he was able to meet with more congenial food. Bui, however in- 
stinctive and mechanical man may have been originally, it is evident that 
he was not to remain in this state, but to become a rational and account- 



44 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 

able being. He must eat " of the tree of knowledge of good and evil ;" he 
must learn wisdom and " obedience from the things which he suffers," and 
acquire his knowledge by painful experience, careful observation, compari- 
son and analogy. The first fruit of knowledge (I will not say of wisdom) is 
to concentrate all care upon self; but a more enlarged experience teaches man 
that it is his true interest to share his possessions, first with '' wife, children, 
and friends," and then to extend his benevolence to the whole human race. 
His motives to action are, in this state, of a utilitarian character, and cui 
bono ? is the preface to all his exertions. As he advances in true wisdom, 
he discovers what is truth, and learns to practise it, not from self-interest, 
but from a regard to duty. 

34. Thus have we seen that man may, originally, have been innocent, 
done justly, loved mercy, and walked obediently, because he had no motive 
to act otherwise ; he gradually learns the same from a perception of self- 
interest, and finally from the highest motive that can actuate him, a con- 
scientious regard to truth and duty ; and under these three heads might 
have been arranged all the arguments which appear in this work in favor 
of a vegetable diet. By a primeval or natural state, however, we must 
not understand a state of barbarism, such as we witness in various de- 
graded races of mankind at the present day ; but a state wherein climate, 
productions, &c., are perfectly adapted to the organization of man, and 
antecedent to the conventionalities and corruptions of society. 



CHAPTER HI. 

INFERENCES FROM THE SENSATIONS OF SIGHT, SMELL, AND TASTE. 

35. The intimate relations that exist between the organs of sense and 
food will be considered more at large when treating of the natural food of 
man ; and I shall here merely refer to those more obvious relations which 
would influence man in his primeval state. 

36. In all matters connected with organic life, comprehending the pre- 
servation of existence and the propagation of the species, man is directed 
by similar instinctive feelings, and governed by the same general laws, as 
inferior animals. Sensations yielding pleasure, without any intervention 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 45 

of reason, infallibly direct him to the adoption of the means best adapted 
for securing his well-being ; and painful or disagreeable sensations constantly 
warn him of danger and impending destruction. No superior intellectual 
endowment, no scientific research could so effectually and so instantor 
noously direct man to the best means of self-preservation. These observar 
tions particularly apply to the selection of food suitable to his peculiar 
organization, and best adapted for assimilation. Man, when originally 
created, would, doubtless, be devoid of all information which we know to 
be the result of long experience ; but food would be immediately necessary 
for renewing his constantly wasting structure: how then could he be 
directed to the most suitable aliments, but by the senses of sight, smell, 
and taste? But even if we grant that man was created with an extensive 
acquaintance with the properties of other bodies ; supposing him to have 
possessed considerable chemical, physiological, anatomical, and other 
knowledge ; yet even these endowments would have been a poor substitute 
for those instinctive feelings by which other animals are directed in their 
choice of food ; and the most scientific philosopher, without these instincts, 
would, if an unusual article of diet were placed before him, be surpassed 
by an unenlightened rustic, who depended upon the simple suggestions oi 
the senses. 

37. Reason and science are insufficient even to remind man when sup- 
plies are necessary to recruit his strength and renew his structure ; and 
without the sense of hunger as a monitor, man would be constantly endan- 
gering his life, by neglecting his daily food. Three senses are therefore 
absolutely necessary to the continued existence of all animals ; one to ren^ 
der them conscious of the demands of nature, another to direct them 
to their food, and a third to test the qualities of the food when in con- 
tact. 

38. "It cannot be too often repeated," observes Mr. Sidney Smith, "that 
none of those necessaries which an animal requires are ever left to reason 
or to mere perception of utility. The superstructure and basis of humanity 
is animalism. Man lives before he thinks ; he eats before he reasons ; he 
is social before he is civilized ; loves even against reason ; and becomes a 
Nimrod long before he is a Nestor. Had man not been an animal before 
he became rational, he would not have existed at all. Reason is evidently 
the last care of nature. She first secures existence, and then finds leisure 
to think. She begins with enduing man with the faculties necessary to 
enable him to provide for himself, before she ventures to animate him with 
the sentiments which dictate to him to look abroad for the health of others ; 
and she bids him provide for others before she allows to him that high ad- 



46 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN 

vance in reason which gives him leisure to indulge in the mere exercise of 
intellect." 

39. Upon the instinctive feelings, then, mankind must have originally 
depended for direction in the selection of appropriate diet ; and can we 
suppose, judging even from our own perverted sensations, that man would 
be tempted by the sight of other animals to kill them for food ? There is 
" beauty in them," it is true ; their shape, symmetry, and motions delight 
and please us ; but there is no such beauty as is calculated to excite the 
appetite while they are living, much less when dead. But suppose an ani- 
mal to have been killed, either by design or by accident, and that its skin 
had been removed — would this be a sight calculated to excite desire, or 
would the smell and taste be gratified by such an object? Eather would 
not the sensations arising from these organs excite horror and aversion ; and 
" in a warm climate, where putrefaction immediately succeeds dissolution, 
must not the dead flesh have speedily diflused an offensive odor, and oo- 
casioned insuperable loathing and disgust?" ■ 

40. Judging from instinctive feelings, therefore, we must conclude, that 
man could not have been originally carnivorous ; for the mangled and gory 
limbs of a dead animal are not calculated to gratify the sensations of either 
sight, smell, or taste. What objects, then, without artificial preparation, 
would be most likely to have yielded pleasurable sensations to each of these 
senses, when the calls of hunger demanded satisfaction? Would the grass 
of the field be sufficient for this purpose? The herbivorous animal is 
attracted by the sight of a verdant lawn, and the sensations of smell and 
taste are there equally gratified ; but this is not the case with man. Food 
of a higher character was designed for him. Moses informs us that " out 
of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to 
the sight and good for food ;" (Genesis ii. 9 ;) and again, " When the woman 
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and 
a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did 
eat ; and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." (Genesis 
iii. 6.) Thus we find that the organ of sight was the first to direct Eve in 
the choice of food ; and that fruit was in this respect most attractive. No 
other kind of diet, in its natural state, is so calculated to afibrd pleasure to 
three out of the five senses with which man has been endowed. The eye 
is pleased with the varied forms and hues of the fruit of genial climes, and 
fruit yields a fragrance to the olfactory nerves not to be surpassed ; while 
luscious juices and rich flavors render the sensual enjoyment complete. 
Fruit, then, would doubtless be best calculated to attract the notice of 
mankmd ; and upon this they would be induced, by every instinct of their 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 47 

peculiar organization, to make their repast ; until either scarcity, change 
of climate, or other causes, reduced them to the necessity of adopting a 
di'.'t less congenial to their nature, and less conductive to their happiness. 



CHAPTER IV. 



PREPARATION OP ANIMALS ^ d FOOD. 



41. That man has succeeded, by art, in making the fiesh of other ani- 
mals agreea,ble to the senses of sight, smell, and taste ; — that he has rendered 
it also both digestible and nutritious,^ caimot be questioned; but the 
comparative advantages of this and a vegetable diet will be more fully con- 
sidered hereafter ; my present arguments merely applying to a state of 
society far antecedent to the discovery of fire, and the invention of cook- 
ing and culinary utensils. 

[Note 5. This proposition cannot be admitted without qualification. 
It may be questioned whether any form of cooking can render flesh-meat 
more nutritious or digestible in the absolute sense. It is very true that 
many persons in civilized society have artificial or decayed teeth, neither 
of which are well adapted to the mastication of raw flesh ; hence, with such 
persons, cooked flesh well masticated might digest more comfortably than 
uncooked flesh with little or no mastication. Again, the revolting appear- 
ance of raw flesh might, when first presented to the senses of taste and 
smell, so disturb and nauseate the stomach as to seriously impair for a 
time the digestive functions. But I am of opinion that raw flesh, well 
masticated, would prove as much more nutritious and digestible than 
cooked in the case of the human, as it is with the lower animals, after the 
senses had been thoroughly accustomed to it. T.] 

42. How soon man became acquainted with fire and its various uses, 
neither sacred nor profane history assists us in determining. Cain and 
Abel brought offerings unto the Lord, but there is no allusion to their using 
fire ; nor are we justified by any expression made use of on that occasion* 
in inferring that this element was then employed to consume the offerings' 
The first mention of it occurs, I believe, when Abraham was about to offer 
up his son Isaac, long after the Flood, and when flesh was allowed as an 



48 ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 



article of diet. I have previously alluded to the fable of Prometheus 
stealing fire from heaven ; as well as to his being the first to make use of 
animal food, and to the diseases he entailed upon himself and mankind by 
so doing ; instead, therefore, of vainly searching farther for the date of 
the discovery, it may suffice to observe, that until man was acquainted 
with fire, and familiar with its effects, it would be impossible for him to 
relish the flesh of other animals, particularly if fruits and farinaceous arti- 
cles of diet were within his reach ; and I believe no instance can be adduced 
of any nation, however savage, feeding upon raw flesh, where fruits, 
ferinaceous roots, and corn could be procured. Have we not here, then, 
another strong argument in favor of the fruit and farinaceous diet of man, 
durmg the first period of his existence? 

43. Another physical reason presents itself for considering man not to 
have been originally carnivorous ; — ^namely, the want of implements for 
slaying, cutting, and preparing other animals, before he could make use of 
their flesh for food. All animals destined for feeding upon flesh are pro- 
vided by nature with instruments for catching, tearing, and devouring their 
prey ; but for man there is no such provision ; — a plain indication that, 
previously to the discovery of the arts, he must have been indebted to some 
other productions for his subsistence. " God hath made man upright ; but 
they have sought out many inventions." (Eccles. vii. 29.) 

44. I have now completed my investigations respecting the original diet 
of man ; and have, I trust, satisfactorily proved, that the flesh of animals 
was not laid under contribution for his support. The language of Scrip- 
tm'e seems to me particularly clear and decisive on this point, showing 
that fruit and other vegetables were appropriated to the use of man. His 
original innocence and moral perfection speak the same language ; for the 
thought of creating pain and misery, by slaughtering an animal in the 
midst of pleasure and enjoyment, could arise in no breast whereon the 
image of the Creator was faithfully sealed, except in the case of dire 
necessity. The testimony of profane antiquity, also, is in favor of a sim- 
ple vegetable diet among the first races of mankind. The senses of sight, 
smell, and taste, the instincts expressly designed by the Creator for direct- 
ing each a.nimal to its appropriate food, loudly proclaim man to have been 
originally frugivorous ; while the absence of fire and other results of 
discovery would entirely preclude the first human inhabitants of this globe 
from feasting upon the flesh and blood of slaughtered animals. 

45. Whatever source of evidence we consult, therefore, no discrepancy 
is found. Eevelation and tradition, morals and man's sensitive feelings, 
nature and art, all harmonize in declaring that man, when fresh from the 



ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN. 49 



hands of his Creator, when he lived in innocence and peace, when he was 
blessed with happiness, health, and vigor, for many hundreds of years, 
and before a gross selfishness had corrupted and degraded his nature, 
lived upon the simple productions of the earth. 



PAKT II. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



PART IT. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN 



CHAPTER I. 

EVIDENCE AFFORDED BY COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 

Felix, qui potuit rerum eognoscere causas ; 
Quos rami fructus, quos ipsa volentia rura 
Sponte tulere sua, carpsit. — ^Virgil. 

46. I HAVE previously stated, that the intellectual faculties of man have 
afTorded him the power to resist, and greatly to modify, his instinctive sug- 
gestions. His inventive powers enable hira to substitute the discoveries 
of art for the simple and more wholesome provisions of nature. Daily 
use and pleasing associations render him capable of enjoying, with the 
greatest gust and delight, substances which were originally distasteful, or 
even repulsive to his palate ; (138 ;) and those articles of diet which, to an 
nnvitiated taste, yielded the greatest enjoyment, become tasteless and in- 
different. ^ Thus are the natural wants supplanted by numerous artificial ones, 
which, becoming associated with the former, are not to be distinguished 
from them ; and thus is man, by the refinements of luxury, the require- 
ments of fashion, the habits of modern society, the influence of example, 
and the force of habit, plunged headlong into an abyss of artificial plea- 
sures, and disqualified for relishing the simple aliments which nature had 
adapted to his original instincts, and to the highest development of his phy- 
sical and moral powers. 

[Note 6. A cow has been taught to love '' kitchen-slops" strongly im- 
pregnated with refuse and putrefied animal matters, in preference to her 
natural food ; and a sheep has been feasted on beefsteak and coffee until it 
refused to touch the greenest grass or the most delicious clover. So, man 

(53) 



54 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

has depraved his instincts to that degree, that " rum and tobacco" have 
become his greatest luxuries. T.] 

47. But those very intellectual endowments which conferred on man the 
ability to depart so far from his natural state, are able also to lead him 
back from his long wanderings, and to reveal to him the best means of 
securing his health and happiness. Ill health, pain, misery, and an abbre- 
viated existence, are the means adopted by the Deity to remind us of our 
transgressions of nature's laws ; and although our instinctive feelings are 
no longer competent to direct us in the path of health and peace, our cul- 
tivated reasoning faculties, by which we investigate and compare the laws 
of nature, and by which we are made sensible of the beautiful adaptation 
of means to an end, are fully sufficient for enabling us to retrace our steps. 
We may also rest assured, that the principles of sound philosophy will 
harmonize with the dictates of original instinct. God being the author of 
both, they cannot contradict each other ; the laws of nature are but the 
expression of his will, and, as all his designs are for good, there is a moral 
certainty that a life passed in obedience to those principles will be product- 
ive of the highest degree of happiness that temporal objects can yield ; 
notwithstanding the sacrifices and self-denial which an emancipation from 
previously-formed habits will undoubtedly require. 

48. Let us, therefore, interrogate Nature, with a sincere desire of dis- 
covering the truth, and not with the object of defending what we wish to 
find true ; let us employ the talents with which God has endowed us, not 
in accumulating wealth, not in fostering and expanding the selfishness of 
human nature, but in discovering th^ real causes of disease and misery, 
and the best means of establishing durable health and happiness. With 
this view, let us now attempt an answer to the second question ; namely 
Is man so wonderfully constructed, that climate and locality alone deter- 
mine on what substances he shall feed? Or does his organization, like that 
of other animals, manifest a special adaptation to one specific kind of food ; 
but with an extensive range of adaptability to the greatest variety of ani- 
mal and vegetable productions ? 

49. That the alimentary organs of man are so constructed as to admit 
of his feeding on a great variety of animal and vegetable substances, as 
climate and circumstances may direct, and yet enjoy a tolerable amount of 
health, happiness, and longevity, there can be no doubt ; and the advan- 
tages of such a range of capability will hereafter be referred to. 

50. Hence it is that climate, in most cases, determines the diet upon 
which any particular nation or people subsist ; and many have been induced 
to conclude, that climate and its productions should prescribe the rule 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 66 

by which the diet of man ought to be regulated. " In the torrid regions 
of the globe," say they, " where a variety of rich and juicy fruits, rice, &c., 
abound, and where gregarious animals, such as sheep and oxen, are scarce, 
or of an inferior description, there it is evidently intended that man should 
feed on vegetable productions, and his health is best preserved by them : 
but in colder climes, where the circumstances are reversed, animal food should 
form the chief part of human diet. These are the evident intentions of 
aature." The argument is plausible ; and, as the majority of a nation 
practically adopt the diet that seems purposely provided for them, without 
ever being led to suspect they are in error, or to investigate the matter on 
anatomical and physiological grounds, it is concluded, that public practice 
is the result of experience, and consequently the best : the more rational 
inference is, that expediency in the first place, and habit in the second, have 
reconciled man to the food he usually feeds on ; and his alimentary organs 
are so peculiarly constructed as to accommodate themselves easily to his 
circumstances. But when the structure and functions of the various human 
organs employed in the prehension, mastication, and digestion of food are 
considered, it is clear they have a special adaptation, in obedience to which 
all the interests and happiness of man are most effectually promoted ; 
while, at the same time, they possess a wider range of capability, which 
permits him to feed on the greatest variety of animal and vegetable pro- 
ductions, without destroying his life, or materially interfering with his 
pleasures. 

51. There are few who doubt that fruits, &c., were the original food of 
man ; and I trust the evidence already presented will tend to produce con- 
viction in the minds of those who have not previously thought upon the 
.subject. Now, if such was the original diet of man, it is certain that the 
Divine Being must have provided him with such an organization as was 
better adapted to the solution and assimilation of vegetable matter, in the 
form of fruits, roots, grain, &c., than any other alimentary matter : to sup- 
pose otherwise would be to admit a defect in the plans of Omniscience, 
which we invariably find " ordered in all things and sure." It devolves, 
therefore, upon those who maintain that man was originally frugivorous 
but not so now, to show that his organization has, since his original crea- 
tion, undergone some change. This, of course, they, cannot do; and I 
sliall now endeavor to prove, that the organization of man is precisely of 
the nature we should expect a frugivorous creature to possess. 

52. Without a comparison of the natural dietetic habits of animals, 
anatomy supplies us with no internal evidence of the characteristic food 
of any particular species. It is necessary, therefore, that the naturalist 



56 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

should classify the animal creation, according to the food they are observed 
to feed upon ; and then the anatomist marks the minute differences in their 
structure, and ascertains that all carnivorous animals have alimentary 
organs of a particular character, and all herbivorous animals those of a 
totally different kind. The naturalist and anatomist having mutually aided 
each other by their respective observations and discoveries, and determined 
the established laws of relation, comparative anatomy enables us to ascer- 
tain the natural dietetic character of those animals whose natural history is 
unknown. 

53. Between the organs of digestion, of motion, and of sensation, there 
is so direct and intimate a relation, and so beautiful a harmony of parts, 
that from the appearance of a single bone or any other characteristic 
part, a skilful naturalist will often be able to describe, with considerable 
exactness, not only the form of the skeleton, but even the dietetic habits 
of an extinct species. A piercing eye, a keen scent, swiftness of foot or 
wing, strong talons, powerful muscles, sharp angular teeth or a crooked 
beak, a simple stomach, a short alimentary canal, great cunning and a 
treacherous and cruel disposition, generally characterize the carnivorous 
animal ; and the remark applies universally to mammalia, birds, reptiles, 
fishes, and insects. The herbivorous race is, for the most part, distinguish- 
ed by organs and qualities the reverse of all these ; and so consistent is 
nature in all her work, that we never find an animal with organs of a rapa- 
cious character in one part of its structure, and those of an opposite class 
in another part. For instance, the claws of the tiger are never combined 
with the stomach and intestinal canal of the sheep or the camel. All the 
divisions of an animal's economy are wisely adjusted to each other : per- 
fection and unity of design mark every organ, and fit it for the function 
it has been destined to perform. Let us, therefore, wisely consider these 
workings of divine wisdom, and carefully note the lessons they are intended 
to teach us."^ 

[Note 7. This branch of our argument is never appreciated by the 
superficial reader. The different portions oi the digestive apparatus are 
often represented as affording the evidence to be deduced Irom compara- 
tive anatomy. But to my mind the whole organization of the difierent 
classes of animals, considered in relation to their dietetic habits, presents a 
still more conclusive argument in favor of the frugivorous character of 
man. A pictorial glance at a few specimens of these several classes can- 
not fail to give us a vivid and impressive idea of the teachings of natural 
history on the subject. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



51 



I have often thought that, if a few animals, however promiscuously 
selected, were grouped according to their natural dietetic characters, we 
should have an ocular and a convinchig demonstration to which class man 
naturaUy belongs. 

As a fair representation of the general bodily conformation of the car- 
nivorous division of the animal kingdom, look at the bull-dog, jackal, 
alligator, and tiger. (Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.) 

Fi». 1. 




BULL-DOa. 

There are, of course, a variety of smaller and larger animals which pro- 
sent the carnivorous organization in a still more striking aspect, as the 
spider, \'u]ture, anaconda, shark, hyena, &c., whose history and habitudes 
are fiuniliar to all naturalists. If any attribute of character, bodily or 
mental, stands out prominently in form, limbs, features and expression, it is 
that of unmistakable and unmitigated ferociousness. On every part of the 
organization a predacious or bloodthirsty nature seems indelibly stamped ; 
and this "language of signs" is universally understood by the animal 

kingdom. 

" Gloomily retired, 
The villain spider lives, cunning and fierce, 
Mixture abhorred ! Amid a mangled heap 
Of carcasses, in eager watch he sits, 
OV.rlooking all hia waving snares around,'' 



&8 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN'. 



i 



• But why should poets, and divines, and all men of refinement and intelli- 
gence, attach the ideas of viilauy and cruelty to the killing and eating of 

Fio. 2. 




JACKAL. 

fttiiinals amongst the insect tribes, if the highest development of the human 
being requires him to obtain a part of his sustenance in a similar manner ? 

Fig. 3. 




ALI-IGATOR. 



Is there not as much of treachery and fierceness, to say nothing of villany 
and cunning, in slaughtering and devouring a pet lamb, or an innocent calf, 
0.S in catching and eating flics? 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



5d 



Fi». 4. 




In Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8, we have a group from the omnivorous dcpartnient 
of the animal kingdom. The general expression of organization lin^ cer- 



FiO. 5. 




BROWN BEAR. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



tainly kss of fierceness and maliciousness, yet the evidences of grossness 
and st' pidity are even more prominent. 

it is true that the hog, in its domesticated condition, is a much more 




HIPPOPOTAMUS, 



filthy animal than in its native forest ; and the bear, when left to its own 
dietetic instincts, is, compared with the domesticated hog, of cleanly habits ; 
the arg'iiment, therefore, that the inhabitants of new countries arc very 

Fia. 7. 




v/ell nourished on " bear-meat," has very little force when applied to the 
flesh of the equally omnivorous but artificially-fattened swine. The flesh 
of all animals is rendered worse by confinement, and, as food, still further 
det<^riorated by the fattening process. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



61 



Pio. a 




I cannot here forbear alludiEg to an improved dietary wliich has recently 
been proposed by the IVench Academy of Medicine, and echoed through 

Fig. 9, 




.-\i:(// 



DEEE. 

the medical journals of this comitry, for the treatment of the disease 
called diabetes. This improvement consists in feeding the patient on the 



62 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



fiesh of carnivorous animals — cats, dogs, foxes, &c. ! And in order to con- 
quer the "prejudice" whicli the patient's mind or palate may be supposed 
to entertain against the ensanguined nutrition, it ih farther proposed to 
season it abundantly with brandy and spices! Such " discoveries" in medi- 
cal science are much better calculated to carry us back to the dark ages, 
than to lead to any useful results in the future. 

Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12, represent a group of the herbivora. In all 
these, and, indeed, in all herbivorous animals, the limbs, mouth, features, 
expression, and, in short, the entire organization, is in striking contrast 
with both the carnivorous and omnivorous groups. Here gentleness, 

Pro. 10. 




peacefulness, and innocence are the prominent traits of character. The 
mental constitution of the herbivora is as well distinguished from the carni- 
vora and omnivora, as is the bodily conformation. With these, secretin encsa 
and destructiveness are leading propensities ; and with herbivora, cautious- 
ness and combativeness. It is worthy of remark that the horse, the stag, the 
antelope, the bull, &c., will contend to conquer and subjugate ; the wolf, the 
panther, the hyena, the shark, «&;c.. tear and rend, to devour and annihilate. 
In the herbivorous group, too, are the most hardy and enduring speci- 
mens of the animal kingdom ; and this fact proves iiicontestably that, not- 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN 



68 



withstanding great agility (resulting mainly from the development of 
particular sets of muscles by constant exercise) is compatible with an 
exclusively flesh diet, the greatest working power, and the most permanent 
strength and vigor, if not consistent with none other than an exclusively 
vegetable diet, are, at least, never found in connection with any other. 



Fro. 11. 



^;^^,\\ ^ 




GIRAFFE. 

liostly, let us look at a group of the frugivora. The Galago, (Fig. 13,) 
which is found in some of the barbarous countries on the eastern coast of 
Africa, climbs upon the trees like the squirrel, and feeds upon gum and 
pulpy fruits. The appearance of its feet, resembling very strikingly the 
human hand, indicates an approximation to the samias or monkey tribes. 

Figs. 14, 15, and 16, are those specimens of frugivorous animals which 
most nearly resemble the human form. It seems to me that, from the spider 
to the orang-outang, through those several groups of animals \vhose diet- 
otic habits have been indicated, there is something like an ascending scale ; 
and surely, whether the aliment ou which the animal subsists has any 



64 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN 



Fia. 12. 




ELEPHANT. 



determinate relation to its mental and bodily nature or not, it is clearly 
demonstrable that animals approximate humanity in form and feature 
vory nearly in the precise ratio to their departure from the practice of 
flesh-eating. And if all this is a mere accident in the order of nature, it is 
certainly a most strange and wonderful accident ! 

But in order to complete the illustration, let us glance at specimens of 
the human race more nearly resembling, in dietetic habits, the several 
classes of animals we have been considering. 

In Fig. 17 (p. 68) is seen a specimen of humanity as nearly carnivor- 
ous, perhaps, as can be found in this age of the world. His or its manner 
of lifc is very much after the ape or orang-outang style, and his principal 
food is the flesh of the opossum, which he catches by climbing the trees. 

A single grade above the Australian in bodily symmetry and mental 
endowment, are the Tikopians, (Fig. 18, p. 69,) who inhabit the small island 
Tikopia. (See Pritchard's Natural History of Man.) In dietetic habits 
they resemble more nearly the omnivorous animals than the majority of 
the xlustralians, as they employ a greater proportion of vegetable food. 

In Fig. 19 (p. TO) is seen a representation of a KalTir of Bechuana, 
belonging to a race making a nearer approach, in crauinl as well as gene- 
ral development, to the more cultivated tribes of the human family. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



66 



In general the Kaffirs are brave, high-spirited, rather warlike, but not 
cruel. They are described by travellers as intelligent and possessing acute 
sensibilities and perceptions ; yet, from not having reflective education, they 

Fio. 18. 




GALAQO. 

are exceedingly superstitions. The combined influence of cunning, avarice 
ai ul superstition, causes them to believe in witchcraft, and to resort to many 
barliarous devices to plunder those victims of suspicion who happen to 
:>o~5;os.-^ property. 
The (Circassians and Georgians, though rude and unpolished tribes, are 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN, 



Fio. 14. 




MONKEY. 



celebrated as among the handsomest people in the world. Pritchard re, 
•narks, "The Georgians are a people of European features and form. 




Eeineggs says that their women are more beautiful than the Circassians, 
but that the prevalent complexion of the race is not so fair as that of the 
Circassians, who are natives of the higher conntry of Caucasus." 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



67 



Travellers and historians inform ns that these people use very little flesh 
as compared with the barbarous and semi-civilized nations generally, and 
that in many places their fields, cultivated like gardens, supply them with 
ample nutritive material for an almost exclusively vegetable diet. 

FiQ. 16. 




ORANG-OUTANG 

Wii may find in various parts of the world, examples to illustrate tlio 
same jirinciples, as well as the particular ones I have selected. Thus the 
Esquimaux, whose leading articles of food are animal flesh, fats and oils, 
exhibit a strong prevalence of the animal over the mental powers, and a 
correspondingly weak development of the moral sentiments and intellectual 
faculties. Dwarfishness of body, stupidity of mind, grossness of sense, 
with excessive alimentiveness, are the prominent characteristics of this 
animal man. 

The Kalmuck Tartars are fair samples of omnivorous or all-devouring 
men-animals, with a preponderance towards the carnivorous. Although 
horse-flesh is with them a principal article of food, yet they eat indiscrimi- 
nately of any other animal it is convenient to procure, with such vegetable 
food as comes in their way. Travellers uniformly represent them as hideous 



68 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 




A NATIVE AUSTRALIAN. 



and revolting- in feature and expression, and as gross in sensibilities and 
appetences as can well be imagined. 

A higher grade of civilization is found in the Turk. The people of this 
nation evince a bodily organization and mental constitution superior to the 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



69 




TIKO PIAN. 

Esquimaux and Tartars, which I have made to represent the carnivorous 
and omnivorous man, and correspondingly we find their dietetic habits 
approximate toward vegetarianism. 

if it be alleged as an argument against the positions I am endeavoring 
to illustrate, that the mild and amiable Georgians and Circassians are de- 
graded and enslaved by their more ferocious and warlike neighbors, the 



70 



NATURAL FOOD OP MAN. 



Fia 19. 




■i 



EN 



KAFFIR. 

Tartars and Turks, I can only reply that human beings may, and in fact 
do, like predacious animals, riot upon and tyrannize over the more amiable 
and more lovely, as the wolf preys upon the lamb, and the vulture upon 
the dove. And 1 can see no end or remedy for this seeming cruelty, save 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



71 



Fig. 20. 




GEORGIAN FEMALE. 



in that law of bcnevoleiice and progress which permits sufifering for a sea- 
Bon, and as a means of development, and overrules all for good, by that 
law which, in due process of time, will not only exterminate from the face 
of the earth the beasts of prey, but also all the appetences of human beings 
for preying on other animals. T.] 



n NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

54. If the structure of any animal be of a character decidedly carni- 
vorous or decidedly herbivorous, there is little difficulty in determining its 
place in the scale of creation ; but " if we find, on careful and accurate 
examination, that the organs under our inspection are neither like those 
of carnivorous nor like those of herbivorous animals, we are to conclude 
that the animal whose they were belonged to neither of these orders ; and 
if the animal belonged to an extinct or unknown species, the natural his- 
tory of which is also wholly unknown, and cannot now be studied, all cor- 
rect principles in comparative anatomy most clearly and decidedly demand 
that we should diligently explore the animal kingdom, and, if possible, find 
some type with which the organs under our examination correspond. But 
if no exact type of our specimen can be found, then we must ascertain in 
what order of animals alimentary organs are found most nearly resembling 
those of our specimen ; and when this is done, we must conclude that the 
animal to which our specimen belonged came nearer to that order than to 
any other known order of animals, in its natural dietetic character ; and 
in all that our specimen varies from that order, and approaches to a resem- 
blance of some other known order, we are to conclude that the animal to 
which it belonged differed from the former, and approached to an agree- 
ment with the latter, in its natural dietetic character. But if we find an 
order, with the alimentary organs of which our specimen fully corresponds, 
then we are irresistibly led to the conclusion that the animal to which it 
belonged was of the same dietetic character with that order ; and if now 
we can, by studying the natural history or observing the natural dietetic 
habits of that order, fiiUy ascertain the natural dietetic character of the 
animals belonging to it, then we know the natural dietetic character of the 
animal to which our specimen belonged, just so far as the most rigorously 
correct principles and reasonings of comparative anatomy can teach us. 

55. " Now, then, with the strictest application of these principles, and 
this mode of reasoning, to the question before us : What is the natural 
dietetic character of man, according to the real and true evidence of com- 
parative anatomy ? In considering this question, it is important that we 
should remember that, whatever may be true concerning the natural dietetic 
character of man, there is neither now on earth, nor has there been for many 
centuries, any portion of the human race, so far as we know, which have 
lived in all respects so perfectly in a state of nature, or in a state to whicii 
the constitutional nature of man is most perfectly adapted, as to afford us an 
opportunity to study the true natural history of man, and learn his natural 
dietetic character from his natural dietetic habits ; and, therefore, so far an 
this question is anatomically considered, man must, in strict propriety, be 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 73 



regarded a3 au extinct species ; because, though man is actually a living 
species of animals, yet the species, as a whole, have become so artificial in 
their dietetic habits, that it is impossible to derive from those habits any 
evidence which can justly be considered unquestionable, in relation to the 
natural dietetic character of man : and, consequently, our evidence and 
reasoning in the case must be precisely such as would be proper if man 
were really an extinct species, and his natural history wholly unknown. 

56. " Let us suppose, then, that the alimentary organs of the human 
body are placed before us for examination, in order to ascertain the natural 
dietetic character of man. In the first place, those organs speak no dis- 
tinct and unequivocal language ; afford no clear and determinate indications 
from which, without reference to any thing else, we can learn the natural 
dietetic character of man. In the second place, the purely natural dietetic 
habits of man are wholly unknown, except as a matter of extremely an- 
cient history and tradition ; and we have now no way by which we can 
become acquainted with those habits from observation. From the nature 
and circumstances of the case, therefore, we are under the necessity of 
drawing our evidence from comparative anatomy, in the same manner aa 
we would if the species were extinct and unknown. That is, we have no 
other way of ascertaining the natural dietetic character of man IVom his 
alimentary organs, than by comparing those organs with the ainieutary 
organs of other animals in a pure state of nature : and if we can find an 
order of animals whose alimentary organs perfectly correspond with those 
of man, and can accurately and fully ascertain the natural dietetic habits 
ami character of that order of animals, then have we learned, so far as we 
can learn from comparative anatomy, the true, natural dietetic character 
of man." Fully agreeing with these sensible remarks of Mr. Sylvester 
Graham,* I shall now proceed to compare the various organs of man em- 
ployed in the prehension, mastication, insalivation, and digestion of food, 
with the corresponding organs of the carnivorous and herbivorous classes. 

TEETH. 

57. The teeth of the Mammalia are generally divided into four sorts : 
1. Incisors, or Cutting Teeth. 2. Canines, Cuspids, or Eye-teeth. 3. Bi- 
cuspids, or small Cheek-teeth. 4. Molars, or large Cheek-teeth. In each 
human jaw there are sixteen teeth ; consisting of four incisors, two cuspids, 
four bicuspids, and six molars. These, in a perfectly normal state, form 
an uninterrupted series ; they arc all nearly equal in length, and closely 
approximated in each jaw ; a character by which man is distinguished 

* Lectures on Human Life, vol. iL p. 49. 



'74 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

from all other animals, excepting the fossil genus Anoplotlierium, which ia 
allied to the Tapir tribe. 

58. The incisors in man are large, broad, and compressed, with a fiat edge. 
In carnivorous animals there are six in each jaw : they are small and 
pointed, bearing no resemblance to those of man ; standing, also, farther 
apart, and being comparatively unimportant. In herbivorous animals they 
are broad, as in man ; but generally much stronger, with the cutting ends 
considerably thicker, but varying extremely, both in form and number. 
In the Ruminantia, there are no incisors in the upper jaw ; and those of 
the lower one are flat, broad, and oblique, so as to oppose their upper sur- 
face to the callous gum above. In the horse they are large and strong ; in 
the hog they are also strong, those of the lower jaw projecting obliquely. 
In the elephant there are no incisors in the lower jaw, and the two in the 
upper assume the fonn of huge cylindrical tusks. The Rodentia (such as 
the rat, beaver, &c.) have long curved incisors. 

59. The cuspids, or canine teeth, assume their normal development in 
the Carnivora; and the term ** canine" (from the Latin word "ca?2w") in- 
dicates them to be especially developed in the dog. They are (when nor- 
mal) longer than the other teeth, conical, acute, and strong ; often com- 
pressed, and with a cutting edge behind : their number never exceeds one 
on each side in each jaw. In many animals, they are developed into huge 
tusks ; as in the boar, &c. The cuspids being generally much longer than 
the other teeth, a considerable space usually exists between the teeth, on 
each side of the jaw, to receive the canines of the opposite jaw ; and, in 
all animals, the lower cuspids are anterior to the upper ones. In the hedge- 
hogs, shrews, phaslangers, and the tarsier, the canine are shorter than the 
other teeth ; and, consequently, there is a vacancy between their points on 
each side. There is not the slightest resemblance between the cuspids of 
man and those of carnivorous animals ; though the possession of these 
canines is the principal evidence urged by those who contend that man is 
partly carnivorous. Thi'oughout nature, there are no sudden departures 
from the general type ; and an organ which is strikingly characteristic in 
one class or order, disappears by successive gradations through severol 
other orders, till it finally vanishes, or becomes merely rudimental. Such 
is the case with the canine teeth. In the Carnivora, they are strong and 
powerful weapons of offence and defence ; in some of the Herbivora, as 
the horse, camel, and stag, they are still pointed and large ;* in man they 

* Eudiments of teeth are containod within the bodies of various kinds of Berpenta. In 
the young of the whale, before its birth, there is found in the lower jaw a row of small teeth, 
which do not rise above the gums, and can therefore be of no use for mastication. Their 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 75 

are small, scarcely longer than the incisors ; and no space exists between 
the opposite teeth, for receiving the canines ; which is an exception pecu- 
liar to man. In him, therefore, the cuspids may be regarded as a form of 
transition between the incisors and bicuspids, and as having no reference 
whatever to a flesh-eating propensity. If, however, any one be disposed to 
hold an opposite opinion, in consequence of the existence of the canines in 
man, then (to be consistent) he must believe the horse, camel, and other 
species of Herbivora, to be still more carnivorous than he ; because the 
cuspids are longer in them than in man. 

60. The bicuspids or false molars in man have two prominences, the 
outer one being generally somewhat more prominent than the inner. In 
the Rodentia, the Ruminants, the horse, and the elephant, there are no 
false molars. In carnivorous animals, they rise into high and sharp points, 
like saw-teeth, much larger and more prominent than those just described : 
they present nothing which approaches to a grinding or triturating sur- 
face ; but, like those which precede them, are fitted for tearing and cutting. 
In this order, they are subdivided into " carnivorous" and " tuberculous" 
molars ; the number of the latter diminishing, in proportion to the san- 
guinary habits of the species. 

61. The molars of herbivorous animals have very large or oblong square 
crowns ; not, however, proportionately larger than those of man, but en- 
tirely different in structure. They are composed of alternate longitudinal 
plates of bone and enamel ; and the whole crown is surrounded with a 
plate of enamel, like human teeth ; the grinding surface, however, is not 
covered by enamel, as is the case with those of man and the Quadruraana ; 
but presents the uncovered ends of the alternate longitudinal plates of 
bone and enamel ; and the plates of bone, being much softer than those 
of enamel, wear away much faster in mastication ; so that the plates of 
enamel are caused continually to be more prominent than those of bone ; 
whereby a roughness is given to the grinding surface, which greatly in- 
creases its dividing and triturating power upon the grass, twigs, boughs, 
and other vegetable and woody substances, on which herbivorous animals 
naturally subsist. The cheek-teeth in the lowei ''^w of man, like those of 
herbivorous and frngivorous animals, are simply raisea V.+o rounded eleva- 
tions ; and are directly opposed to those of the upper jaw, sc ^^ to mash 



further growth is arrested, and they afterwards wholly disappear. Eoget observes, that "an 
organ which has served an important purpose in one animal, may be of less use in another, 
occupying a higher station in the scale ; and the change of circumstances may even render 
It wholly useless. In such cases, we find that it is gradually discarded flrom the system ;" be- 
coming continually smaller, till it disappears altogether." 



76 



ISIATURAL FOOD OF MAN 



and grind the substances that come between tliem ; but not in the least 
adapted to the killing, tearing, and gnawing of animals. In the Carnivora 
they shut within those of the upper jaw, so as to tear and cut the flesh on 
which they feed, preparatory to its being swallowed : when both series are 
viewed together, the general outline may be compared to the teeth of a 
saw, and their action to that of a pair of shears.^ 



[Note 8. Figure 25 is a correct representation of the teeth of a car- 
j,. 25. nivorous animal, the tiger, 

which aje similar to those of 
all specimens of the feline 
race. They differ from human 
teeth in being pointed, jag- 
ged, and crossing, instead of 
an even height at the meeting 
surfaces. It is apparent at a 
single glance, that food can- 
not be finely ground or mas- 
ticated by such teeth, but 
can only be cut and torn. 

SKULL OF TIGER. 




In Figure 26 are seen the teeth of an omnivorous animal. Here the 
^w, as in the case of the Carnivora, is restricted to the opening and shut- 
Fig. 26. 




UNDER JAW AND TEETH OF THE HOG. 

ting, or cutting and tearing motion ; all lateral or grinding motion being 
prevented by the great depth of the glenoid cavity, and by bony eminences 
before and behind. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



77 



Fig. 2T. 




SKULL OF SHEEP 



Next let us view, in Figure 27> 
the teeth of an herbivorous animal. 
Here we have a more even develop- 
ment of the upper or grinding sur- 
faces ; whilst the articulation of the 
lower jaw allows a free lateral and 
rotary motion, admirably adapted to 
the purposes of thorough mastication 
and insalivation of the food of the 
animal, as an exammation of the 
teeth will readily show. 



The teeth of a well-known frugivorous animal. Figure 28, certainly 
resemble those of the Omuivora, or even Carnivora, more than human 
teeth do. 

Fig. 28. 




SKULL 



ORANG-OUTANG. 



Following up the ascending scale with the comparative anatomy of the 
teeth, as we have done with that of the whole organization, we come lastly 
to the human, which, it is apparent at a glance, are farther removed from 
the carnivora than are those of the orang-outang. Those who will take 
the trouble to look closely at the evidences to be derived from compara- 
tive anatomy, will not wonder that all naturalists are agreed that tlie 



78 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

organization of the human being is clearly frugivorous ; however much they 
may marvel that medical writers and physiological authors should be con- 
Fig. 29. 




HUMAN SKULL AND TEETH. 

tinually repeating the oft-exploded dogma that *' the digestive apparatus 
of man is intermediate between the carnivorous and herbivorous animals, 
hence adapted to a mixed diet of animal and vegetable food," &c. T.] 

ARTICULATION OF THE LOWER JAW. 

62. AU lateral motion of the lower jaw in the Carnivora is not only 
prevented by the structure of the teeth, and the closing of the lower cheek- 
teeth within those of the upper ; but is also rendered quite impossible by 
the rising edges of the glenoid cavity ; so that the articulation, or joint, 
admits of the opening and closing motion only ; thus rendering it more 
secure under the extreme muscular action to which it is frequently sub- 
jected. In herbivorous animals, the condyle is adapted to, and works upon, 
a wide and somewhat convex surface ; and, consequently, the articulation 
allows considerable lateral motion, for masticating the vegetable matter on 
which they feed. Great freedom of lateral motion is also possessed by 
the human inferior maxilla ; so that the food can be completely triturated 
by the grinding surfaces of the molars, before it is swallowed ; a charac- 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 79 

ter evidently connecting man with the Herbivora and with the Quadru- 
mana, which possess a similar articulation. 

ZYGOMATIC AKCH; TEMPORAL AND MASSETER MUSCLES. 

63. The temporal and masseter muscles, by which the motion of the 
lower jaw is effected, are of immense size in carnivorous animals. The 
temporal muscle occupies the whole side of the skull, and fills the space 
beneath the zygomatic arch, the span and spring of which are generally 
an index of the volume of this muscle ; while the extent and strength of 
the arch indicate the development of the masseter muscle. On the con- 
trary, the pterygoid muscles, which aid the lateral movement of the jaw, 
are extremely small. The zygoma is of great size and strength in the 
Carnivora ; consisting of a long process of the masseter bone, overlaid 
by the usual process of the temporal bone, which is equally strong. The 
arch extends not only backward but upward, by the bending down of 
the extremity ; the line of anterior declination falling precisely on the 
centre of the carnassiere tooth — the point in which the force of the jaws 
is concentrated, and where it is most required for cutting, tearing, and 
crushmg their food. In Ruminants, the zygomatic arch is short, and the 
temporal muscles are small ; but the masseter muscle on each side extends 
beyond the arch, and is attached to the greater part of the side of the 
maxillary bone. The pterygoid fossa is ample, and its muscles are largely 
developed. The arch is small in man, the temporal muscles moderate, and 
the force of the jaws comparatively weak. 

SALIVARY GLANDS. 

64. The food of all animals possessing the true molar teeth, requires due 
mastication, and mixture with the saliva, before it is passed from the 
mouth into the oesophagus ; and, for the secretion of this fluid, salivary 
glands are* present in almost all animals, except the cetacea and fishes. 
In insects, they have the character of prolonged coeca ; and are very feebly 
developed in the amphibious Mammalia. They are numerous and large in 
those animals living on food which requires continued mastication, as in 
Ruminants ; and they are so situated, that the play of the muscles, in the 
act of chewing, communicates to them a proportionate stimulus. In the 
Carnivora, the food of which requires little or no mastication, these glands 
are very small ; and, consequently, the saliva is very limited in quantity. 
The salivary glands are not proportionably so large in man as in herbivorous 
animals, nor so small as in the Carnivora. It is also stated, that these 
glands are much more developed in those of our race who have long sub- 
sisted on vegetable food, than in those who have lived chiefly on animal 



80 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



food. The secretion from these glands in man is very copious ; which 
indicates his much nearer alliance to herbivorous than to carnivorous 
animals. 

ALIMENTARY CANAL. 

65. The length, divisions, structure, and capacity of the alimentary canal, 
assist us still further in determining the dietetic character of man. In car- 
nivorous animals — whether among the Mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, or 
insects — it is generally short, its structure simple, and its capacity small ; 
whereas, in herbivorous animals, the canal is considerably longer in pro- 
portion to the size of the animal ; and the stomach, colon, and ccecum are 
much more complicated.^ 

[Note 9. In Figure 30 is seen a representation of the alimentary canal, 
with all of the chylopoietic viscera. T.] 

Fig. 80. 



stomach 



Spleen 




Large lDt«|tine. 



Small Intostino. 
DIGESTIVE APPARATUS. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 81 

66. The length of the intestinal canal, as compared with the length of 
the body, is, in carnivorous animals, as three, five, or, in some few cases, 
eight to one. Herbivorous animals vary considerably in this respect ; in 
the Pachydermata, as the horse, ass, &c., the proportion is six, eight, or 
eleven to one ; in Ruminants, as the ox, deer, sheep, &c., it is eleven .and 
even twenty-eight to one ; and in the Simiae, six or eight to one. In man, 
the proportion has usually been considered about six or seven to one ; but, 
as the legs and thighs were improperly included in estimating the propor- 
tion in his case, and excluded in that of other animals, the result is incor- 
rect ; and we may regard ten or twelve to one as a nearer approximation 
to the truth. In the hog the proportion is thirteen to one. Length alone, 
however, is an imperfect criterion ; and, unless the diameter and complica- 
tion of each division of the canal be taken into consideration, our inferences 
respecting the natural food of an animal may be incorrect. The hyena, 
for instance, which lives on the flesh and bones of other animals, has an 
alimentary canal about eight times the length of its body ; while the por- 
poise and dolphin, which feed on fish, have a canal extremely long, but 
simple in its structure. 

STOMACH. 

67. The stomach of the Mammalia varies very much in form and com- 
plexity ; but even this important organ is not sufiicient of itself to indicate 
the true dietetic character of an animal, without reference also to the 
coecum, colon, and length of the whole canal. The stomach of carnivorous 
animals generally consists of a simple, globular sac, without internal 
division ; and the same form is found in many insectivorous animals. Their 
food being highly concentrated, and difiering little from the nature of their 
own tissues, requires but a slight change to prepare it for assimilation ; 
and its liability to become putrescent requires for it a quick passage through 
the canal. In the Herbivora, subsisting on far less concentrated food, the 
stomach is divided into two or more compartments ; and in the Ruminants 
it is very large and complicated, consisting of various cavities. Some 
animals of this class, as well as others that are frugivorous, have a stomach 
comparatively simple, differing little from that of a carnivorous animal ; 
as is the case with the horse : in all such instances, however, the coecum 
and colon are much more developed, and, by their increased dimensions, 
compensate for the more limited functions of the stomach. 

68. In man this organ is simple, but divided into a cardiac and pyloric 
portion ; thus occupying, as in many other anatomical respects, a middle 
line between the carnivorous and herbivorous Mammalia. The inner sur« 

4* 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN 



face of the stomach is covered with rugae, or wrinkles ; formed by the 
mucous membrane, which lines the whole of the intestinal canal, and which 
forms valvular folds, called " valvulse conniventes," in the lower half of the 
duodenum, through the whole length of the jejunum, and upper part of 
the ileum ; by which means the extent and surface of the whole canal are 
materially increased.^" 

[Note 10. The relative as well as the absolute form of the stomachs of 
carnivorous, herbivorous, and frugivorous animals, is seen in the cuts, (Figs. 

Fig. 31. 




lion's stomach. 

31, 32, 33.) Some may imagine, at the first glance, a closer resemblance 
between the human stomach and the lion's, than between the human and 

Fio. 82. 




STOMACH. 



the sheep's! But when they are viewed in relation to their proper food, 
their closer resemblance will vanish at once. It should be particularly 
observed that, so far as mere bulk is concerned, there is a greater similarity 
between the food of frugivorous and carnivorous animals, than between 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN 



88 



frugivorous and herbivorous. The digestion and assimilation of coarse 
herbage, as grass, leaves, &c., requires a more complicated digestive appa- 

Pie. 88 




HUMAN STOMACH. 

ratus than grains, roots, &c., and these more so than flesh and blood. 
The structure of the stomach, therefore, in such case seems precisely 
adapted to the food we assume that Nature intended for it. T.] 



COLON AND C(ECUM. 

G9. The colon, which is the first of the large intestines, differs little in the 
Carnivora from the smaller ones — the interior surface being smooth, and the 
capacity small and never cellulated : but in the Herbivora '^.nd in man its 
dimensions are much greater ; and deep cells are formed in it by ligament- 
ous bands. 

70. The coecum, or caput coecum coli, is the blind pouch, or cul-de-sac, 
formed by a prolongation of the colon beyond the point at which the ileum 
enters its cavity. In the Carnivora the coecum is either altogether absent, 
or, when present, extremely small ; while in herbivorous and frugivorous 
animals it appears to perform, in some measure, the functions of the sto- 
mach, and is generally developed in the inverse ratio of that organ ; being 
voluminous and complex where the stomach is simple, and proportionally 
small where the latter organ is complicated. In accordance with these 
remarks, we find no coecum in the sloth, the stomach of which is complex ; 
it is long, smooth, and ample, with a blunt apex, in Ruminants ; and gen- 
erally large, sacculated, and distinctly glandular, in the Pachydermata. 
Those of the Eodentia which feed upon grain, as the campagnoles, the 
hamsters, and the lemmings, have the coecum large ; in those that are 
omnivorous, as the black rat, it is small ; while in those which feed upon 



84 NATURAL FOOD OF MAIS. 

Bucculent vegetables (as the hare) it is exceedingly large ; having ten times 
the dimensions of the stomach. 

71. In man the coecnm is tolerably large and globular, with a long 
" vermiform appendix," which may be regarded as the rudiment of an 
extended coecum ; it is found only in the human species, in the chimpanzee, 
the orang, the gibbons, (in the last very short,) and in the wombat. The 
coecum is proportionately much larger in infants than in adults ; change of 
diet probably causing it to shrink in manhood. 

72. In answer to the general statement, that the coecum is larger in the 
Herbivora than in the Carnivora, Dr. Tyson states, that the hedgehog, which 
he considers frugivorous, has neither colon nor coecum ; but it is well ascer- 
tained that this animal naturally feeds on serpents and insects. He also 
alleges that the opossum, being carnivorous, has both a colon and a coecum : 
to this, however, it may be replied, that the opossum lives chiefly on roots 
and wild fruits, though it also devours poultry. 



73. In the Carnivora and Rodentia, which present the most complex 
form of liver among the Mammalia, there are five distinct parts : a central 
or principal lobe, corresponding with the principal part of the liver of man ; 
a right lateral lobe, with a lobular appendage, corresponding to the " lobu- 
lus Spigelii" and the " lobulus caudatus," and a small lobe or lobule on the 
left side. Through the whole animal series, however, the magnitude of the 
liver varies in the inverse ratio of the lungs. 

74. In man, the liver is much less developed than the same organ in 
many other Mammalia ; and presents, as rudimentary indications, certain 
organs which are in other animals fully developed. Europeans, and the 
inhabitants of northern climates, who partake more of animal food, have 
the liver much larger, and its secretions more copious, than the inliabitauts 
of warm climates. Perhaps this, in some measure, depends upon the 
amount of non-azotized articles talien along with the flesh of animals, by 
which means the system is supplied with more carbon than is needed. (See 
§ 202.) So that the enlarged liver is attributable to gross living on a 
mixed diet, rather than to an exclusively animal diet. 

75. There is another part of structure in which man dificrs from car- 
nivorous animals, and resembles the Herbivora ; namely, the inunense 
number of perspiratory glands in the skin ; by which the superfluous heat, 
generated by an excess of non-azotized food, escapes ; the retention of 
which in the system might be injurious. It is not improbable that hydro- 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 86 

phobia owes its origin to the inactivity of this function of the skin : per- 
spiration, in the dog, being given off principally by the tongue. 

GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORGANS. 

76. The principal points of relation and difference, then, may be 
summed up in the folloT^ang manner : In the absence of claws, and other 
offensive weapons ; in the form of the incisor, cuspid, and molar teeth ; in 
the articulation of the lower jaw ; in the form of the zygomatic arch ; in 
the size of the temporal and masseter muscles, and salivary glands ; in the 
length of the alimentary canal ; in the size and internal structure of the 
colon and coecum ; in the size of the liver ; and in the number of perspira- 
tory glands : in all these respects, man closely resembles the herbivorous 
class of animals. The only points in which he appears to differ from them, 
and approach the Carnivora, are, in the enamel of the molar teeth being 
confined to the external surface, instead of being arranged in upright 
plates, alternating with plates of ivory and of cortical substance : and in 
the stomach, which, though not so simple as that of the Carnivora, is much 
less complicated than that organ generally is in the Herbivora. Some of 
the latter, however, which are apparently formed for digesting grain and 
other concentrated food, have the stomach more simple, and the alimentary 
canal short, as the horse. 

77. " The prevalent notion," says Dr. Combe, " that the digestive appa- 
ratus is simpler and shorter in carnivorous than in herbivorous animalg, 
merely because their food is more analogous in composition to their own 
bodies, and therefore requires less perfect digestion, seems to be unfounded ; 
and to be negatived by the fact that, in the grain-eating birds — in the con- 
stituent elements of whose food there is no such analogy — ^the intestines, 
nevertheless, scarcely exceed in length those of the carnivorous birds ; a 
circumstance at variance with the notion of length being necessary, solely 
on account of the great elaboration required for the conversion of vegeta- 
ble into animal substance. The true principle — and it is important to 
notice it, as the error is generally adopted — appears to be, that where the 
food of the animal contains much nutriment in a small bulk, there the 
stomach and intestinal canal are simple and short ; but where, on the con- 
trary, it contains little nutriment in a large bulk, there great capacity, 
complexity, and length, become requisite to enable the animal to elaborate 
a sufficiency of nourishment for its subsistence, by taking in the requisite 
quantity from which it is to be derived." 

78. All the human organs connected with alimentation, therefore, are 
evidently very different from those in carnivorous animals ; and although, 



86 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

in some respects, they differ also from the organs of herbivorous animals, 
they are evidently much more closely allied to those of the latter class 
then to those of the former 



CHAPTER n. 

MAN (strictly SPEAKINa) NOT OMNIVOROUS. 

79. Supposing, then, we had no further evidence respecting the natural 
food of man than we derive from the comparison just instituted, what 
would be the correct inference to be deduced fi-om it ? There appears to 
be only one alternative ; either it is intended that man should derive his sub- 
sistence from a mixture of both kinds of diet, and thus be omnivorous, (as 
many physiologists consider him ;) or that he should feed upon substances 
of a nature and consistency intermediate between flesh and herbs ; such as 
fruit, roots, and grain. 

80. Let us take a careful and impartial view of this question. The 
indications of structure are, that flesh requires a tearing rather than a 
masticating process, little or no saliva, a gastric juice of a peculiar cha- 
racter, together with a short and simple alimentary canal, in order that the 
processes of assimilation may be expedited ; for if animal food be detained 
too long in the alimentary passages, it is said to become putrid and injuri- 
ous. On the contrary, vegetable food requires to be well masticated and 
intimately mixed with the saliva, a peculiar gastric juice for its solution, 
and a cellulated colon and large coecum, for the more complete digestion of 
such portions of vegetable matter as have escaped the action of the sto- 
mach and duodenum. Now, if carnivorous animals have received the very 
best structure for the perfect assimilation of flesh, and if herbivorous ani- 
mals possess the best development for the complete and healthy solution of 
grass and other vegetables, then man, being different from both in the 
structure and disposition of the alimentary organs, cannot have received 
the best adaptation for either kind of food ; and, therefore, though a mix- 
ture of both may be tolerably digested, yet neither kind can so easily and 
completely undergo transformation as would be effected by the organs and 
secretions of animals especially adapted to its solution. 

81. Physiologists inform us, that the gastric juice varies in its character 



NATURAL POOD OF MAN. 87 

according to the food habitually taken. If flesh be eaten, the gastric juice 
secreted is specially adapted to its solution ; if vegetables be taken, the 
juice changes its qualities accordingly ; and if juice of an intermediate 
quality be formed, in consequence of a mixture of both kinds of food, it 
seems to be a physical impossibility that it should produce so complete an 
effect upon either as that kind which is specially designed for each. It 
may also be remarked that, with people living upon a mixed diet, in pro- 
portion as animal food predominates, the power of the stomach to digest 
vegetable food generally diminishes. Hence the frequent complaints of 
vegetables and fruits disagreeing with the stomach ; so that many find it 
necessary to be extremely careful of what vegetables they partake ; and 
are perhaps obliged to limit themselves to stale bread, or biscuit, or some 
other simple farinaceous substance. Yet even these individuals, by gra- 
dually diminishing the amount of animal food, and adopting a correct 
regimen, may once more return to their youthful enjoyment of fruits and 
vegetable substances generally.'^ 

[Note 11. — It is not uncommon in this city for persons, especially inva- 
lids, to assert that they have tried the vegetable diet for one, three, six, or 
twelve months, and found it decidedly to disagree with them. Hence, they 
have come to the conclusion — and so far as their experience goes, the con- 
clusion is legitimate — that, however advantageous it might have been to 
some constitutions, it did not agree with theirs. I have taken some pains 
to investigate the circumstances of many of these failures, and have inva- 
riably found that the whole cause of the difficulty was a morbid appetite 
which the experimenter would not or did not control, or an injudicious 
quality and preparation of vegetable foods. I have never known a 
failure, either with well persons or invalids, where the vegetable diet was 
regulated by correct physiological principles. T.] 

82. Let us, for a moment, direct our attention to those organs wherein 
man differs from the classes of animals we have considered. The hands, 
and the erect position of man, seem more adapted to gather the produce of 
fruit trees, than either to capture objects of prey, or collect herbs ; and the 
incisor teeth, which are comparatively of little use to the Carnivora, are in 
man admirably suited to the office of cutting substances into convenient 
portions for the grinding process of the molars, and for removing the skin 
or rind of fruit, &o. ; while the short cuspids, or canine teeth, may be ren- 
dered similarly usefal. 

83. The ostensible reason for regarding man as omnivorous is, that ha 
can subsist upon a great variety of animal and vegetable productions, just 



88 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

as climate or circumstances may determine ; but, if properly considered, 
this only evinces the wide range of adaptability which his organization has 
received ; in considering which, we are apt to overlook its special adapta- 
tion. We know that man can live on flesh alone, but this does not prove 
that he is carnivorous ; he can also live exclusively on fruit and other vege- 
tables, but we ought not to conclude from this that he is frugivorous ; and 
it is equally illogical to infer that he is omnivorous because he can feed, 
with comparative health and pleasure, on a mixture of both animal and 
vegetable substances. The question we have to determine is, whether the 
development of the physical, mental, and moral powers of man, is equally 
complete upon whatever kind of food he lives ; or whether there is a defi- 
nite kind of food upon which all the interests of his economy are better 
maintained than upon any other. If the former be the case, then is man 
truly omnivorous ; if the latter, he is not omnivorous. We have seen how 
far comparative anatomy supports the latter opinion, and we shall find it 
corroborated by the evidence from every other source. 

84. From these and other considerations it appears questionable, whether 
any animal is strictly omnivorous ; that is, formed for feeding indiscrimi- 
nately, or without preference, upon either animal or vegetable substances ; 
and with organs adapted for procuring, masticating, and digesting each 
kind of food with equal facility, so as to attain the highest degree of per- 
fection of which its nature is susceptible. The animals which approach 
the nearest to this character are the hog, the bear, and the opossum ; yet 
these, when in a perfectly natural state, and when food is abundant, inva- 
riably prefer fruits, roots, grain, and other vegetable produce. 

85. The digestive organs of the hog are very similar to those of man ; 
but the teeth are widely different, excepting the true molars, which very 
much resemble those in the human jaw, and are characteristic of animals 
intended to feed on vegetable matter. The cuspids and bicuspids in the 
hog are very similar to those of carnivorous animals ; the incisors, also, 
bear no resemblance to those of man. This comparison, then, by no means 
favors the notion that man is partly carnivorous, supposing we admit the 
hog to be so ; for all the characteristics connecting the latter with the Her- 
bivora are similar to those of man ; while those which unite it with the 
Carnivora bear no resemblance to those of the human subject. Remem- 
bering, therefore, that the hog, when left to its own instincts, in a perfectly 
pure state of nature, and when food is abundant, always prefers fruits, 
roots, and other vegetables, and requires no animal food for its perfect 
development, we must inevitably conclude that man is still more widely 
removed from animals of a carnivorous character. But we have yet found 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 89 

110 true type of the human alimentary organs ; nor shall we, in any race of 
auimals, find the characters identical in all respects. 

THE QUADRUMANA. 

86. The nearest approximation is met with in the Quadrumana, particu- 
larly in the orang-outang ; which, both in outward conformation and general 
organization, bears the greatest resemblance to man. " The masticatory 
organs of the orang are so closely similar," observes Professor Lawrence,* 
*' that they might easily be mistaken for human ;" the only difference being, 
that the cuspids or canine teeth are relatively longer and more pointed, 
with intervals for the reception of those of the opposite jaw ; and the ele- 
vations on the grinding surfaces of the molars more prominent and pointed ; 
by which characteristics the orang approaches nearer to the Carnivora than 
man. The disposition of the enamel in the molar teeth is the same as in 
the human subject. The articulation of the lower jaw, the form of the 
stomachy the comparative length of the intestines, the relative capacity of 
the coecum, and the cellular arrangement of the colon, in the orang-outang, 
likewise correspond very closely with those of the human body ; and in 
what part soever a difference is detected, it denotes man to be less formed 
for animal diet than the orang. The zygoma (for instance) is larger, and 
the temporal muscles are far more powerful than in man ; the muciparous, 
labial and buccal glands, (which soften the contents of the cheek-pouches,) 
are more constant and larger in man than in the Simia3 ; but the parotid, 
submaxillary, and sublingual glands are less ; the valvular folds of the sto- 
mach, duodenum, &c., are wanting in the orang. In other species of the 
Simige, the teeth are of a more carnivorous character. Comparative 
anatomy, therefore, warrants us in concluding that the alimentary organs 
of the orang are the true type with which to compare those of man, in 
order to ascertain his true dietetic character. Now, as the orang-outang 
and most species of monkeys, when in a pure state of nature, and when 
left free to choose their own food, and to follow their undepraved instincts, 
are wholly frugivorous, subsisting exclusively on fruits, nuts, and other 
esculent farinaceous vegetables, we are perfectly justified by all the laws of 
correct reasoning in concluding, that the natural food of man is not of 
that mixed nature which many physiologists would have us to believe. 

87. Dr. Abel's orang "appears naturally to have preferred fruit; 
though he yielded, on shipboard, to the temptation of meat, and seems to" 
have quickly become as carnivoror.s as his companions. His food in Java 
was chiefly fruit, especially mangostans, of which he was excessively fond ; 

Lectures on Physiology, &c., p. 189. 



90 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

he also snaked eggs with voracity, and often employed himself in seeking 
them. On shipboard he was very fond of bread, and would not refuse 
flesh ; but always preferred fruits when he could obtain them. Afterwards, 
however, his food was vegetable ; both from his own choice, and because it 
agreed much the best with him."* Sir William Jardine says : " The food 
of this family may be called almost entirely vegetable ; the eggs and occa- 
sionally the young of birds being the only approach which can be traced 
to a carnivorous propensity."! They plunder the maize-fields, and rob the 
orchards of their choicest fruits ; and, in a state of confinement, vegetable 
diet contmues their favorite and most nourishing support ; but they will 
eat almost any thing that the luxury of man has introduced, and some even 
become remarkable for their peculiarities. One of the keepers of the 
Tower of London informed Mr. Newton, " that experience has taught those 
who have the care of the menagerie, that feeding monkeys on flesh renders 
them gross, and shortens their lives ; from which practice they have there- 
fore desisted." 

88. Of the hoolocks, another species of orang, and native of the Garrow 
Hills in British India, it is said, " their food, in the wild state, consists (for 
the most part) of fruits common only to the jungle in this district of coun- 
try ; and they are particularly fond of the seeds and fruits of that sacred 
tree of India called the peopul tree." Of one of these it is also stated that, 
" like many of the religious castes of this country, he seemed to entertain 
an antipathy to an indiscriminate use of animal food ; and would not eat 
of either the flesh of the cow or hog ; would sometimes taste a httle piece 
of beef, but never eat of it." He would take fried fish, which he seemed 
to relish better than ahnost any other description of animal food, with the 
exception of chicken ; and even this he would eat but very sparingly of ; 
preferring his common diet, bread and milk, with sugar, fruit, &c.t Of 
some species of South American Simice it is incidentally mentioned by 
Humboldt, that they live on fruits ; and indeed all travellers and naturalists 
agree in representing the Quadrumana as naturally frugivorous. AU evi- 
dence derivable from comparative anatomy, therefore, is as demonstrative 
as we can exiDCct such evidence to be, that the natural dietetic character 
of man is also frugivorous. 

OPINIONS OF LINN^US, CUVIEE, AND OTHEKS. 

89. This part of the subject might now be safely left to the unbiased 

* Jardine's Naturalist's Library. Mammalia, vol. i., pj 76. t rbi<J' P« 81. 

t Sir W. Jardine's Natural History of Monkeys, p. 98-100. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 91 



judgment of all who would seriously reflect upon the evidence, produced ; 
but— lest the facts I have advanced should appear to some not sufficiently 
supported, and, consequently, the inferences not fairly drawn — I shall here 
add the testimony of men whose scientific acquirements and mental quali- 
fications are universally acknowledged. Not that truth of an abstract and 
demonstrative nature is rendered any more a truth by the weight of any 
human authority, or by the sanction of a great name ; but because some 
may be inclined to pay more attention to a much-neglected inquiry, when 
they know that men of great talents have examined it, and have arrived 
at a conclusion at variance with the opinion of the generality of mankind. 
" Such are the scientific attainments and the general knowledge and in- 
tegrity of some men," observes Sylvester Graham, " that their opinion on 
subjects to which they have given great attention is worthy of high con- 
sideration ; and when such men are compelled, by the force of irresistible 
evidence, to come to conclusions and acknowledge principles which do not 
accord with their preferences, nor correspond with their practices, the tes- 
timony merits respect."* 

90. Linnaeus, one of the most celebrated naturalists that ever existed, 
speaking of fruit, says : " This species of food is that which is most suita- 
ble to man : which is evmced by the series of quadrupeds ; analogy ; wild 
men ; apes ; the structure of the mouth, of the stomach, and the hands."! 

91. M. Daubenton, the associate of Buffon, and the first writer who ren- 
dered the study of anatomy subservient to natural history, observes : " It 
is, then, highly probable that man in a state of pure nature, living in a 
confined society, and in a genial climate, where the earth required but little 
culture to produce its fruits, did subsist upon these, without seeking to prey 
on animals."! 

92. Gassendi, in his celebrated letter to Yan Hehnont, says : " I was 
therefore contending, that we do not appear to be adapted by nature to 
the use of flesh-diet, from the conformation of the teeth ; since all animals 
(I speak of terrestrial ones) which nature has formed to feed on flesh, have 
teeth long, conical, sharp, uneven, and with intervals between them; 
of which kind are lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, cats, &c. But those which 
are created to subsist only on herbs and fruits, have their teeth short, broad, 
blunt, adjoining to one another, and distributed in even rows ; of which 
sort are horses, horned cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and some others. And, 
further, that men have received from nature teeth which are unlike those 

* Lectures on the Science of Human Life, vol ii., p. 71. 

t Linnsei Amoenitates Academicae, vol. x,, p. 8. 

X Daubenton's Observations on Indigestion. Translated by Dr. A. P. Buchan. 



92 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

of the first class, and resemble those of the second ; it is therefore proba- 
ble, since men are land-animals, that nature intended them to follow, in the 
selection of their food, not the carnivorous tribes, but those races of ani- 
mals which are contented with the simple productions of the earth. Where- 
fore, I repeat, that from the primeval and spotless institution of our nature, 
the teeth were destined to the mastication, not of flesh, but of fruits." 
"As to what relates to flesh, it is indeed true that man may be sustained 
on meat ; but how many things does man do which are contrary to his 
nature ! Such is the perversion of manners now, by a general contagion, 
enamelled into him, that he seems to have become a new creature. Hence 
the doctrines of morality and philosophy are directed to no other object, 
than to recall mankind to the paths of nature, which they have aban- 
doned."* 

93. Sir Everard Home says ; " While mankind remained in a state of 
innocence, there is every ground to believe that their only food was the 
produce of the vegetable kingdom." 

94. Baron Cuvier, whose knowledge of comparative anatomy was most 
profound, and whose authority therefore is entitled to the greatest respect, 
thus writes : " Fruits, roots, and the succulent parts of vegetables, appear 
to be the natural food of man : his hands afford him a facility in gathering 
them ; and his short and comparatively weak jaws, his short canine teeth 
not passing beyond the common line of the others, and the tuberculous 
teeth, would not permit him either to feed on herbage or devour flesh, un- 
less those aliments were previously prepared by the culinary processes." 

95. " The use of plants," says Ray, the celebrated botanist, " is all our 
life long of that universal importance and concern, that we can neither live 
nor subsist with any decency and convenience, or be said to live indeed 
at all, without them. Whatsoever food is necessary to sustain us, whatso- 
ever contributes to delight and refresh us, is supplied and brought forth 
out of that plentiful and abundant store. And, ah ! how much more inno- 
cent, sweet, and healthful, is a table covered with these, than with all the 
reeking flesh of slaughtered and butchered animals ! Certainly man by 
nature was never made to be a carnivorous animal, nor is he armed at all 
for prey or rapine, with jagged and pointed teeth, and crooked claws sharp- 
ened to rend and tear ; but with gentle hands to gather fruits and vege- 
tables, and with teeth to chew and eat them."t 

96. Professor Lawrence observes : " Physiologists have usually repre- 

* Gassendi's Works, vol. x., p. 20. 
* Evelyn's Acetaria, p. 170. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 93 

sented, that our species holds a middle rank in the masticatory and digest- 
ive apparatus, between carnivorous and herbivorous animals ; a statement 
which seems rather to have been deduced from what we have learned b}' 
experience on this subject, than to have resulted fairly from an actual com- 
parison of man and animals." After comparing the alimentary organs of 
man with those of other animals, he further says : " The teeth of man hdva 
not the slightest resemblance to those of the carnivorous animals, except 
that their enamel is confined to the external surface. He possesses, indee(J, 
teeth called ' canine ;' but they do not exceed the level of the others, and 
are obviously unsuited to the purposes which the corresponding teeth exe- 
cute in carnivorous animals." After sundry observations on organization, 
he says : " Thus we find that, whether we consider the teeth and jaws, or 
the immediate instruments of digestion, the human structure closely resem- 
bles that of the Simise ; all of which, in their natural state, are completely 
herbivorous."! (frugivorous ?) 

97. Lord Monboddo says : " Though I think that man has, from nature, 
the capacity of living either by prey or upon the fruits of the earth, it 
appears to me that, by nature, and in his original state, he is a frugivorousi 
animal ; and that he only becomes an animal of prey by acquired habit." 

98. " The Quadrumaua or monkey tribes," observes Eoget, " approach 
nearest to the human structure in the conformation of their teeth, which 
appear formed for a mixed kind of food, but are especially adapted to tho 
consumption of the more esculent fruits." 

99. Broussonet, an eminent French naturalist, also inferred from the 
teeth, that in the origin of society, man's diet must have been exclusively 
vegetable. 

100. Mr. Thomas Bell, in his "Anatomy, Physiology, and Diseases of 
the Teeth," observes : " The opinion which I venture to give has not been 
hastily formed, nor without what appeared to me sufficient grounds. It is, 
I think, not going too far to say, that every fact connected with the human 
organization goes to prove, that man was originally formed a frugivorous 
animal ; and therefore tropical, or nearly so, with regard to his geographi- 
cal position. This opinion is principally derived from the formation of his 
teeth and digestive organs ; as well as from the character of his skin, and 
the general structure of his limbs." The opinions of various other cele- 
brated writers might be quoted : but they are reserved for another part of 
this work. 

101. Seeing, then, that comparative anatomy is so clear in its indica- 
tions of the proper food of man, and that men so well qualified fcir giving 

t Lectures on Physiology, &c., pp. 188, 189, 191. 



94 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

an opinion upon the matter have expressed themselves so decidedly, it cer^ 
tainly is surprising to find so many authors on physiology and dietetics 
ridiculing the idea of a vegetable diet ; and briefly stating, without an 
attempt at proof, that the teeth, stomach, and other parts of man's struc- 
ture, declare him to be omnivorous, or formed for a mixed diet. The mis- 
conception, (such I must consider it,) seems to have arisen from confounding 
a fruit and farinaceous (commonly called vegetable) diet with an herbivorous 
one ; Professor Lawrence, even, having misapplied the latter term. It 
would be absurd to contend that man was formed for deriving his subsistence 
from the latter kind of food ; though the more esculent vegetables may 
occasionally be enjoyed with impunity, or positive benefit ; but it does not 
appear to me possible to derive, from comparative anatomy, a single argu- 
ment calculated to negative the conclusion, that the human organization is 
specially adapted to fruit, roots, grain, and other farinaceous vegetables.'^ 

[Note 12. The easy manner in which our medico-physiological writers 
dispose of this subject, may be seen in the following extracts from Dungli- 
son and Carpenter, the latest and most popular American and English 
authors, both of whom seem to mistake assertions for arguments, and sta- 
tistics for principles. 

Says Dunglison : " In his arrangement of the digestive organs, man 
intermediate between the carnivorous and the herbivorous animal." 

Dr. Carpenter remarks : *' The construction of his digestive apparatus, 
as well as his own instinctive propensities, point to a mixed diet as that 
which is best suited to his wants." T.] 

OBJECTIONS ANSWEKED. 

"! 02- Two objections to an exclusively vegetable diet may be here con- 
Lidered : 

1. It has been objected, that although the orang-outang, so nearly resem- 
bling man in his organization, is, in a perfect state of nature, strictly fru- 
givorous, yet he readily learns to eat and enjoy the flesh of animals ; and that 
experience has taught us, that man also can live upon animal food with 
impunity. 

2. That though man is organized as a frugivorous animal, and doubtless 
fed upon fruit when first created, and in a purely natural state, yet his rea- 
soning powers, and the possession of fire, enable him so to modify and 
change the flesh of animals as to render it not only pleasant to his senses, 
but also highly nutritious and healthful. 

103. In reply to the first objection, I freely grant that both the Quadru- 



j NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 95 

mana aud man are able to substitute, with apparent impunity, an animal 
for a vegetable diet : but wliat does this prove ? Merely that, although 
constitutionally adapted to a frugivorous diet, there is in their alimentary 
organs a certain range of adaptability, by which they are enabled to 
deviate considerably from their nature, without any immediately apparent 
bad effects. This is a wise and kind provision in the organization of all 
animals ; by which they are enabled, in peculiar circumstances, and in cases 
of necessity, to subsist on food to which their organs were not originally 
adapted ; and to which, on ordinary occasions, with a full supply of their 
natural food, they would not resort. A lamb, for instance, during a long 
sea-voyage, was induced to live upon the flesh of animals ; and so power- 
ful was the force of habit, that it finally refused to crop the grass destined 
by nature for its support. Horses, on the coast of Arabia, are constantly 
fed upon fish, herbage being deficient ; and they seem very much to relish 
this, to them, unnatural diet. The Gauls fed their oxen and horses with 
fish ; so did the Paeonians, mentioned by Herodotus. " In Norway, as 
well as in some parts of Hadramant and the Coromandel coasts, the cattle 
are fed upon the refuse of fish."* (441.) Even a young wood-pigeon, which 
is principally granivorous, has been brought to relish flesh, so as to refuse 
every other kind of food, even grain, of which it is naturally so fond. Par- 
rots, which are exclusively frugivorous, are taught by habit to relish ani- 
mal food. 

104. Thus are various herbivorous and granivorous animals reduced, by 
circumstances, to live upon animal food ; and it is equally true that car- 
nivorous animals (as the lion, tiger, cat, &c.) have been taught to live, and 
to thrive moderately upon vegetable diet. " K the young of these animals, 
before they have tasted flesh, be carefully trained to a vegetable diet till 
they are grown up, they will manifest no desire for flesh-meat."f Young 
kittens have been fed upon vegetable diet, without appearing to have suf- 
fered from it in health and strength, and, when fully grown, would refuse 
to eat flesh, which, if forced upon them, would at fii'st render them sick. 
They would kill rats and mice, but would not devour them. 

105. Many similar changes in the food of animals have been effected 
by art and circumstances ; but the widest range of variation, as regards 
food, exists, as might be expected, in those animals, the alimentary organs 
of which are intermediate between the carnivorous and herbivorous classes ; 
namely, such as feed upon fruit and farinaceous substances. This is more 
especially the case with man ; and by it he is capacitated for becoming the 

♦ "Life of Reginald Heber," in Harper's "Family Library." No. 40, p. 860. (America.) 
t Graham's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 69. 



96 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

denizen of every climate, and qualified for fulfilling tlie divine command, 
" Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it." (Gene- 
sis i. 28.) Adapted by nature for feeding upon neither flesh nor herbage, 
he is (notwithstanding) created with an adaptation to either or both, as 
climate or circumstances may render necessary ; but we are not justified 
in inferring, that he enjoys by this deviation from nature that full share of 
health, pleasure, and longevity, which would be secured by a strict adherence 
to his more natural diet. If, therefore, we would judge correctly of organs 
and their functions, we must carefully distinguish between adaptation and i 
adaptahilitij ; and must not hastily conclude, tiiat because an animal can 
exist and be comparatively well upon a certain kind of diet, it was designed 
to live on that diet, as its best and most natural food. Each animal has 
been organized upon fixed principles, and each organ has its determinate 
function and special adaptation ; but an all-wise Creator has provided 
against emergencies, by conferring on each organ, particularly if connected 
with existence or with organic life, a considerable latitude ; by which it 
can, to a certain extent, vary its functions without destroying its power, 
or so far impairmg the constitution as suddenly to destroy life. We are no 
more justified, therefore, in concluding frugivorous animals, as the orang- 
outang and man, omnivorous, than we are in declaring the lion, the tiger, 
and the cat, or the horse, the cow, and the sheep, omnivorous, because 
they can be trained to feed upon either animal flesh or vegetables, or a 
mixture of both. 

106. Professor Lawrence and other physiologists, who fully admit tliat 
man is constitutionally adapted to a vegetable diet ; that he can be per- 
fectly nourished by it, and enjoy as much health and vigor as upon a mixed 
diet, yet urge the second objection, (102,) and contend that the ingenuity 
of man, by the assistance of fire and certain culinary operations, can so 
modify and change the flesh of animals as to render it more appropriate 
for his diet than that for which nature has specially adapted him. 

107. There is something so very absurd and contradictory in this suppo- 
sition, that it scarcely requires any argument to refute it. A little girl 
who attended a Sunday-school was once chided for having her hair curled ; 
and was told that if God had intended it to be curled, nature would have 
done it without her assistance. Her reply was, that when very young, and 
not able to take care of herself, her hair curled of its own accord ; but, 
being now grown up, she thought God expected her to attend to it herself; 
a much more rational argument, in my opinion, than is employed by those 
who consider the discoveries of man superior to the teachings of nature. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 9*7 

"To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, 
To throw a pert'ume on the violet, 
To smooth the ice, or add another hue 
Unto the rainbow, or with taper light 
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, 
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.'"* 

108. Nature existed before art ; and it was shovra, when speaking of the 
original diet of man, (42, 43,) that he would require food before either fire 
or any iniijlement for dressing food was known : is it not consistent, there- 
fore, with the wisdom and design we see manifested in all creation, animate 
and inanimate, to suppose, that the most natural and best food of man is 
that which his organs are evidently adapted to assimilate without any arti- 
ficial preparation? 

109. To man, no doubt, has been granted superiority of intellect ; but 
it appears to me that the legitimate use of it, with respect to food, is not 
to supplant pure animal instinct, but to accord with and assist it ; not to 
discover a substitute for what nature has evidently intended for our sup- 
port ; but rather to bring our natural diet to that high state of perfec- 
tion of which we know, in the most favorable circumstances, it is capable ; 
to till the earth, and render it fruitful, in obedience to the original com- 
mand ; to supply, by artificial heat and moisture, the defects of uncongenial 
climes ; and to discover the means, not only of creating an abundance of 
all things which a natural and undepravcd appetite would direct us to 
enjoy ; but also of preserving them, and their nutritious qualities, through 
all seasons of the year. 

110. Tlie proper employment of the superior mental qualifications of 
man, is to discover the intimate relations that exist between animate and 
inanimate nature ; not to change or confound them : to investigate and 
obey the physiological laws and functions of animal life ; not to subvert 
them, or render man independent of their influence. " Eeason and instinct," 
observes Dr. Lambe, " are but different modes of attaining the same end ; 
nor can the former be more wisely employed than in rendering our habits 
conformable to the dictates of the latter." 

111. If, then, we have proved that there is a direct relation between the 
alimentary organs of man and vegetable diet, and none between those 
organs and the flesh of animals, it is evident that the highest development 
of his corporeal and mental powers will be effected by employing those 
powers in pursuance of those relations ; for no artificial preparation of 

♦ Shakspeare's King John, Act iv., Scene 2. 
.5 



9b JNATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

animal flesh can render it a fit substitute for what nature has appointed. 
It must be remembered, that the question is not — " What substances can 
man, by artificial preparation, succeed in rendering digestible and nutri- 
tious?" — for we have seen that all animals have considerable latitude 
granted them in this respect, even without preparation: but the real 
inquiry is — " What substances appear best adapted by nature for the nutri- 
tion of man, and for most effectually promoting all the vital interests of 
his system ?" This question has already been answered ; and the objection 
we have been considering depends upon mere assertion : but it will receive 
further illustr-xtion as we proceed. 



CHAPTER m. 

PHYSIOLOGY OF SIGHT, SMELL, AND TASTE. 

112. Having consulted Comparative Anatomy respecting the dietetic 
character of man, let us next proceed to inquire what light is thrown upon 
the subject by Physiology ; and let us, in the first place, consider the senses 
of sight, smell, and taste. 

113. It has been previously observed, (36,) that in all matters connected 
with organic life, comprehending the preservation of existence and the 
propagation of the species, man is directed by similar instinctive feelings, 
and governed by the same general laws, as inferior animals. These 
instincts, in a great measure, depend on those organs of sense which are 
placed in direct relation to the organs of digestion, and to the substances 
best adapted for supporting the normal and healthy condition of each par- 
ticular structure ; and a certain degree of pleasure, while this healthy con- 
dition remains, invariably accompanies the gratification of those appetites 
which are the result of special organization. Hence the carnivorous 
animal feasts with savage delight on the mangled limbs of his victim ; and 
the senses of sight, smell, and taste, participate in the pleasures of the 
repast. No sooner is the sensation of hunger excited by the wants of his 
system, than he is roused to action, and seeks to appease the cravings of 
his appetite. He passes by the herbs of the field, the farinaceous roots 
and pendent fruits, as objects of indifference ; they have no attraction for 
him, having no relation to his organs of sense ; nor are his digestive 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 99 

organs well constituted for abstracting from them the nutriment they con- 
tain. He therefore either lies in wait, or pursues his onward course till 
the sense of sight or smeU informs him that his prey is near ; and then 
speed, force, and stratagem, are employed to entrap it. The sight of his 
victim stimulates his efforts ; the odor, which is in relation with his olfac- 
tory nerves, whets his appetite, and urges him on in the pursuit ; until, at 
length, having hunted down and lacerated the object of his desires, the 
blood adds new zest to his pleasure, and his appetite is sated with the qui- 
vering and gory limbs of his helpless victim. 

114. It is far otherwise with the herbivorous animal, when stimulated 
by hunger to satiate its appetite. The blood of its fellows has no charms 
for it, nor can it derive pleasure from devouring their flesh ; on the con- 
trary, it is attiacted by the verdant meads, where its sight, smell, and 
taste find ample gratification. Those plants which are best adapted to its 
nature are selected with unerring precision ; and it crops with delight the 
nutritious herbs, which, being assimilated by its compound stomach and 
convoluted intestines, supply the daily waste of structure, and renew the 
animal heat. Other animals are directed, by their instincts, to devour 
with avidity decaying animal and vegetable matter ; and objects which 
appear to all our organs of sense most revolting, are to them a delicious 
feast. The excrements and putrid flesh of animals, and the various accu- 
mulations of disorganized matter, are peopled with myriads of little ani- 
mals, having organs of sense and digestion in accordance with the situa- 
tion they are destined to hold ; and, no doubt, their happiness is as com- 
plete, and their enjoyment as great, as is consistent with their nature. 

115. Sight, smell, and taste, appear to be the senses by which man and 
all animals are directed in their choice of food ; and although the organs 
which are the seat of these senses occupy similar situations, and seem simi- 
larly constructed, in all the Mammalia at least, yet how extensively varied 
must the minute anatomy of these organs be ; since the same object will 
produce widely different and sometimes opposite sensations in one animal, 
to those which it produces in another ! The organization may be relatively 
perfect in each ; and yet, owing to the difference of relation subsisting 
between the object and the variously-developed organs, a totally different 
result be produced. The eyes of each animal, for instance, may be so 
adapted to the rays of light, that all objects (whether of an animal, vege- 
table, or mineral nature) may convey correct ideas of their color and 
figure ; the odor from various substances may rightly aJTect the olfactory 
nervei., and the sapid properties of bodies may duly influence the papillae 
of the tongue, &c., and yet the kind and degree of the resulting sensation 



100 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN 

may be infinitely diversified ; so that what is agreeable to one,' may be 
indifferent or even disagreeable to another. The distance at which one 
animal is affected by an odor to which another is totally insensible, is truly 
astonishing, while the reverse may be the case with an odor of a different 
kind. A dog, for example, will scent its prey or a piece of flesh at a con- 
siderable distance ; while to fragrant flowers or fi'uit he seems quite insen- 
sible or indifferent. No eye, though aided by the most powerful glasses, 
and directed by the most skilful anatomist, is able duly to appreciate the 
infinitesimal divisions, or to unravel the complicated texture, so as to pre- 
dicate the variation of function from the difference of structure : we must, 
therefore, in a great measure, be content to infer the difference of structure 
from the apparent diversity of sensation. 

116. "Nature," says Mr. Sidney Smith, "has not formed man totally 
different from other animals ; but rather added to his brain new organs. 
She has not, in his case, pulled down the fabric of sentient being, and 
reconstructed it upon a totally different plan. All that she has done, has 
been to add to the original edifice Corinthian capitals and Doric columns ; 
bestowing reason, not to supersede, but to guide, direct, and perfect his 
animal nature. We may rest assured, therefore, that whatsoever principles, 
in the shape of instincts, are given to animals for their preservation and 
protection, are also instincts in man ; and that what in them is a propensity 
or desire, is not in him any thing else." 

IIY. But man, who was created lord of all, and destined to have all 
other animals in subjection, vainly arrogates to himself the liberty of 
changing his instinctive feelings, and of selecting his food from every 
department of nature. He cannot take pleasure, it is true, in devouring 
the gory limbs of a recently-slain victim ; but, by means of fire and condi- 
ments, he gradually acquires the habit of feasting on the flesh of animals. 
Into the same service he presses the various kinds of vegetables ; and even 
acquires, at length, the power of relishing the half-putrid limbs of birds of 
the air and beasts of the field. 

118. This power of assimilating so great a variety of aliment, has 
induced many physiologists to consider man strictly omnivorous ; but if we 
mark his peculiar instincts, as manifested through the various organs of 
sense, wc shall, I think, find sufiBcient reason for concluding, that the vege- 
table kingdom alone affords him that food which is best adapted to his 
peculiar organization; from which he would derive a greater share of 
enjoyment in gratifying his appetite ; and which would be more favorable 
to health of body, elasticity of mind, moral culture, and longevity, than 
any other description of diet. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 101 

SIGHT. 

119. Of all thiugs in the form of food, the mellow fruits of genial climes 
seem to the eye of man the most attractive and pleasing. The varied 
hues and colors occasion an increased flow of saliva ; ideas of pleasure to 
be derived from the smell and taste are awaliened ; and a desire to possess 
frequently becomes a strong temptation, particularly to the young. Other 
objects, when artificially prepared and associated with previous enjoyment, 
will, I am aware, excite similar feelings ; but the sight of no article of 
food, in a natural condition, is so calculated to rouse the appetite, when the 
taste has not been vitiated by acquired habits. Accordingly we find, as 
previously mentioned, (40,) that it was by this sense Eve was first tempted 
to eat of the forbidden fruit. 

SMELL. 

120. The sense of smell seems more especially intended as a guide for 
animals in the selection of their appropriate food ; and in man we find this 
sense placed in a closer relation with fruit than with any other article of 
diet. Dr. Eoget observes, that " the hog, which, in its natural state, sub- 
sists wholly on vegetable food, resembles herbivorous tribes in the external 
form and relative magnitude of the turbinated bones ; but they are more 
simple in their structure ; being formed of single and slightly convoluted 
plates, without partitions or perforation. In this respect they approach to 
the human structure, which is even less complicated, and indicates a 
greater affinity with vegetable than with animal feeders. Man distin- 
guishes more accurately vegetable odors than those proceeding from animal 
substances. The reverse is observed with regard to quadrupeds whose 
habits are decidedly carnivorous." 

121. The " antrum highmorianum," or maxillary sinus, which communi- 
cates laterally with that of the nose, is of moderate size in man, and is 
seated above the sockets of the three last molar teeth : it is also of mode- 
rate size in the ox, goat, and other Euminants ; but is nearly, if not quite 
obliterated in the Simiag, and does not appear in the Carnivora. 

122. " The olfactory nerves are proportionately large in predaceous ani- 
mals, and are ramified over extensive nasal surfaces, thus giving them 
power ; while in those herbivorous and other animals which simply require 
an olfactory sense to discriminate the qualities of substances near at hand, 
the olfactory nerves are proportionately small, and the olfactory apparatus 
is more simple in its mechanical construction ; whereby power is sacrificed 
to discrimination. In this respect, the organization of man decidedly 
places him with vegetable-feeding animals. There is a nice distinction 



102 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

between simple power and discrimination. The hound, for instance, 
possesses the former ; the sheep the latter."* " Man," says Miller, " is far 
inferior to carnivorous animals in acuteness of smell ; but his sphere of 
susceptibility to odors is more uniform and extended."! 

123. The olfactory nerves ramify over the lining membrane of the nasal 
cavity, through which the air passes into the lungs ; and in a perfectly nor- 
mal state, warn animals of danger, when odors injurious to the system ai^ 
present ; in order that, by a temporary suspension of the breath, or change 
of locality, they may avoid the threatened evil. 

124. Thus the sense of smell becomes a sentinel, both for the lungs and 
the alimentary canal ; not only administering to the necessities of animals? 
by directing them to their proper diet, but also teaching them to shun all 
such effluvia as are prejudicial to health. In man, it is a source of con- 
siderable pleasure, from its relation to the fragrance of flowers and other 
perfumes. 

125. It has been frequently asserted by physiologists, that this sense is 
far less acute in man than in other animals. Judging from its present 
depraved condition, in an artificial state of society, this is undoubtedly 
true. Man can neither scent at a distance the flesh and secretions of other 
animals, like the dog, (an endowment by no means desirable for him,) nor 
can he distinguish the numerous species of grass and herbage, like the 
sheep and os;; because these are not adapted to his wants : but were he 
brought up in strict accordance with the constitutional laws of his nature, 
there is every reason to believe he would be able to discriminate, with the 
greatest delicacy of perception, all such articles of food as are beneficial 
from those which are detrimental. The various species of fruit, in particu- 
lar, he would easily and accurately distinguish, by the minute differences of 
odor and perfume ; and would be able, instinctively and instantaneously, to 
reject such as were poisonous or hurtful. 

126. " The smell," says Saint Pierre, " may be considered as an anticipa- 
tion of taste, and as a method of judging whether the food in question 
suits the stomach. ThougJi we should have difficulty in explaining the 
process by which it leads our judgments, we may be satisfied that its 
instincts are more to be depended on than all the theories of physicians."^ 
Fruit being almost the only article of food which, in its natural state, is 
pleasant to the sense of smell in man, we may regard it as an additional 
proof that, when it can be obtained in variety and perfection, this is his 
natural diet. 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 2S5. 

t Elements of Physiology, vol. ii., p. 131T. 

X Harmonies of Nature, vol. i., p. 186. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 103 



TASTE. 

127. The organ of taste is in strict harmony with that of smell ; and is 
formed for appreciating and selecting, by their gustatory properties, sub- 
stances fitted for nourishing the body, and renewing its structure. This 
organ, when not vitiated by habit and improper indulgence, is a sure guide 
for man in the choice of his food. All such substances as are adapted to 
his constitutional wants, possess so direct a relation to the organ, as to 
yield him agreeable and even pleasurable sensations ; but such as are cal- 
culated to weaken or destroy the integrity of his structure, prove distasteful 
and offensive. The muciparous and salivary glands are immediately excited, 
and pour forth their secretions to protect the parts from injury ; and, if 
the substances be decidedly dangerous to life, nausea and vomiting are fre- 
quently the consequence. But should injurious and improper flavors be 
frequently repeated, the integrity of the organ will be destroyed ; its effi- 
ciency as a guide will no longer exist ; natural and salutary articles of 
diet will cease to be relished ; substances most pernicious and (in the first 
instance) nauseous, will become agreeable to the palate; custom will 
become law ; and the foundation of disease will gradually, but no less cer- 
tainly, be laid. 

128. M. Kaspail, a medical writer of the present day, observes : " Man 
possesses, equally with animals, the instinctive knowledge of that which is 
suitable to him : this instinct, in him, takes the name of ' taste.' His 
taste, in a normal condition, is the rule of his wants : he has but to consult 
it ; to keep himself in health, he has only to acquire a knowledge of him- 
self To oppose these natural tastes by medicinal prescriptions, instead of 
aliments, is not science, but pedantry ; it is not a sign of being learned ; it 
is only an attempt to appear so, in the presence of suffering humanity."* 

129. Thus we see that the three senses which direct all animals instinctively 
to eat the substances best adapted to their wants and to their organs of 
digestion, are equally adapted to discharge the same office for man ; har- 
monizing with all other parts of his organization, in pointing to fruit as 
his best and most natural diet. It is, therefore, of the utmost consequence 
that he should carefully preserve the integrity of these important organs ; 
and not deteriorate their functional powers by vicious indulgence or un- 
natural habits ; lest they cease to warn him when danger is at hand, and 
become no longer a sure guide in the choice of food. It seems reasonable 

* Medical Times, August 26, 184a 

t 



104 ]SATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

to conclude that the followii\^ relations between fruits and man are the 
results of special design. The general height at which fruits grow is 
adapted to his stature and upright position ; their elevation and shape to 
his hands as organs of prehension ; their consistency to his teeth ; the live- 
liness and beauty of their colors to his organ of vision ; their agreeable 
fragrance to his sense of smell ; and their grateful and delicious flavor to 
his taste. Many roots, nuts, corn, rice, and esculent vegetables, seem to be 
equally proper for man, as articles of diet ; and it may be urged, that the 
organ of smell fails to direct him in the choice of them. But it must not 
be forgotten, that the instincts of man are no longer in their original 
state ; and the sense of smell may now have lost much of its primitive 
sensibility and discrimination. These articles, however, the presence of 
which is scarcely appreciable by the sense of smell, and the gustatory 
properties of which but slightly affect the taste, are yet so agreeable, and 
so constitutionally adapted to our wants, that their use can be daily con- 
tinued for considerable periods of time, without either sickening the stomach, 
or becoming disagreeable to the palate. Those, on the contrary, who feed 
upon less natural diet, such as the artificially prepared flesh of animals, require 
continual change. The frequent repetition of a richly-flavored dish, how 
much soever it may be enjoyed at first, becomes daily less agreeable ; until, 
at last, the sight, smell, and taste of the object can be no longer endured : 
while bread, potatoes, rice, &c., as solids, and water as a liquid, can, in a 
normal state of the system, be daily enjoyed for months and years, without 
becoming less agreeable to the appetite. 

130. It is a law, well ascertained by physiologists, that when an organ 
has been perverted from its original use, through a few successive genera 
tionfi, a change of function is produced, which becomes, to a considerable 
degree, hereditary ; and it may require a proper direction through as many 
generations, to reduce it to its original and normal state.* Yet even in 
children of flesh-eating parents, we find a preference for fruit, bread, and 
other farinaceous substances ; and they would gladly forego the most 
savory dishes for the delicious food which nature supplies for their use, 
without requiring artificial preparation. What risks will not boys run, 
what dangers will they not brave, to obtain the food thai ^troved so irresist- 
ible a temptation to the mother of our race ! Even the theft of fruit 
seems to be considered by many people a venial offence, compared with 
the theft of any other article of equal value. 

* See Appendix A. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 105 

131. By the custom of our country, however, we are gradually trained, 
from infancy to manhood, to an animal diet ; and are led to suppose, from 
universal opinion, that the flesh of other animals is necessary to our exist- 
ence and well-being; habit and association render it agreeable to the 
taste, and we learn to prefer it to any other food. But when a person 
has abstained from animal food for a considerable period, and has acquired 
a relish for a more wholesome and more natural diet, he experiences a much 
purer and more exquisite enjoyment ; and wonders how others can take 
pleasure in cutting and chewing the dead bodies of animals. (420.) 

132. Caspar Hauser, who, in close confinement, was fed, from childhood 
till seventeen years of age, on coarse bread and water, had an instinctive 
loathing and abhorrence of flesh, when first presented to him. His biogra- 
pher says : " The odor of flesh was to him the most horrible of all smells. 
^Yhen the first morsel was oSered to him, scarcely had it touched his lips, 
before he shuddered ; the muscles of his face were seized with convulsive 
spasms ; and, with visible horror, he spat it out." " Some flesh was sub- 
sequently concealed in his bread : he smelt it immediately, and expressed 
a great aversion to it ; but was nevertheless prevailed upon to eat it : and 
he felt afterwards extremely ill in consequence of having done so." 

133. With instincts so favorable to the adoption of a vegetable diet, 
therefore, it seems almost unaccountable, that man should have so generally 
indulged in animal food. " I am astonished to think," says Plutarch, " what 
appetite first induced man to taste of a dead carcass ; or what motive 
could suggest the notion of nourishing himself with the putrefying flesh of 
dead animals." 

OBJECTION. FLESH-EATING GENERAX, IN VARIOUS NATIONS. 

134. It has been said, that the general adoption of an animal or mixed 
diet by mankind in various parts of the earth, is a proof that man is 
instinctively omnivorous. But were the habit of eating flesh-meat universal, 
which, as will hereafter be shown, is far from being the case, this would 
not demonstrate that it is the natural diet of man. Many habits might be 
pointed out as general, in almost all portions of the earth, which are never- 
theless perfectly artificial, and opposed to the health and happiness of man 

135. " Tobacco," observes Sylvester Graham,* " is quite as extensively 
used by human beings as flesh-meat is ; and those who are accustomed to 
t;ie use of it, would a thousand times sooner relinquish their flesh-meat for 
ever, than abandon their tobacco. Yet no one, I presume, will contend that 

♦ Lectures on the Sclecoe of Human Life. Vol. ii. p. 88. 



106 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 



this proves man to have a natural instinctive desire or appetite for tobacco ; 
and that tobacco was madu for the ubo to wh'nAi man has appropriated it. 
"We know that man has, naturally, a deep and utter loathing of tobacco ; 
and that he is obliged to overcome the most powerful antipathy of his 
nature, in adapting himself to the use of it ; but if every human being 
were trained to the use of tobacco so early in life, and by such delicate and 
imperceptible degrees, that he could not appreciate or remember the first 
effects of it upon the system, it would almost be impossible for us to bo- 
lieve that man has not a natural, instinctive desire and necessity for it. It 
is precisely so in regard to flesh-eating. All who have perfectly sanctiSed 
themselves from animal food, and restored their instinctive faculties of 
smell and taste to something of their native purity, well know that flesh- 
meat is most loathsome to them. And if any number of human children 
were born of vegetable-eating parents, and nursed by vegetable-eating 
mothers, and (at a proper age) accustomed to a purely vegetable diet, and 
never permitted to smell animal food when cooking, nor to see others cat 
it ; every one of them, if there were millions, would at first discover strong 
loathing, if flesh-meat were given to them for food ; and they would s})ii 
it from their mouths, with as much disgust as they would tobacco. But 
when children are born of flesh-eating parents, and nursed by flesh-eating 
mothers, and are habituated (from the hour of their birth) to the savor 
and the odor of animal food, in the nourishment which they derive from 
the mother's breast, in the respiration and perspiration of their parents 
and others around them, and in the fumes of the kitchen and the table, 
and are accustomed to be fed with animal substances in their infancy, and 
to see their parents and others devour flesh-meat at almost every mca), 
they, as a matter of necessity, become depraved in their natural instincts ; 
and, almost as a matter of necessity, discover an early fondness for animal 
food. So in the East, where every human being smokes, it is nearly a uni- 
versal custom for nursing mothers, every few minutes, to take .""he pipe from 
their own mouths, and put it into the mouths of their sucking infants. The 
necessary consequence is, that all those chfldren early discover the greatest 
fondness for the pipe, and seize and suck it with excessive eagerness, v;Lcii- 
ever it is presented to them ; and they are exceedingly discontented, and 
fretful, and unhappy, if it is withheld from them ; and, therefore, according 
to the logic of those who would prove man to be naturally omnivorous 
from his dietetic habits, it is natural and proper for those infants, and for 
all human beings, to smoke, chew, and snuff tobacco." 

136. " The truth is, all animals (including man) are constituted upon 
certain physiological principles, out of which grow certain physiological 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. IW 

wants : and upon these wants are established certain faculties of instinct, 
with determinate relation to the nature and qualities of the appropriate 
supplies. These faculties, while preserved in their integritj, are a law of 
truth to all ; but they are capable of being depraved, and rendered totally 
blind guides, which lead to the most pernicious errors." 

137. " The lower animals have neither the mental nor the voluntary 
powers to deprave their natural instincts to any considerable extent ; and 
therefore they remain, from birth to death, and from generation to genera- 
tion, subject to the law of instinct, and with little deviation from their 
truly natural dietetic habits. But man, possessing the mental and volun- 
tary power to deprave his natural instincts, has exercised that power so 
freely and extensively, that he no longer seems to be able to discrimiuate 
between his truly natural and his depraved instincts and appetites ; nor to 
distinguish his artificial from his natural wants." 

138. " Civilization and luxury," observes Thackrah,* " have depraved 
the stomach and perverted the taste. Habits of life, purely artificial, are 
successively formed ; and, by daily repetition, acquire a power which stifles 
the calls of instinct. The vitiated stomach has a craving as strong for its 
noxious stimulus, as the healthy stomach for requisite sustenance. Sir 
John Eoss, speaking of the Esquimaux, observes : " One bad effect at least 
of their ignorance was displayed in their abhorrence of plam-pudding, 
wath which we had vainly hoped to regale stomachs accustomed to find 
blubber a sweetmeat, and train-oil preferable to Maraschino."! Again he 
says, " Nor, assuredly, had these men, amid their blubber and their oil, their 
dirty habits and villanous smells, any reason to envy the refined tables of 
the south ; as, among those, they would not only have experienced disgust, 
but felt pity for our barbarism and ignorance ; while, if they had been 
induced to partake, it could have been only under the impulse of starva- 
tion."J§ 

* Lectures on Digestion and Diet, p. 54. 

t Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage, p. 164. 

X Eoss's Narrative, p. 153. 

§ "Habit has considerable effect in our decisions regarding the agreeable. The Eoman 
liquamen, or garum, the most celebrated sauce of antiquity, was prepared from the half- 
putrid intestines of fish; and one of the varieties of the OtOC ^"'tXcr.iov. or laserpitiuin, 
is supposed to have been the assafoetida. Even at this time, certain of the orientals are fond 
of the flavor of this nauseous substance. Putrid meat is the delight of some nations ; and a 
rotten epg, especially if accompanied with the chick, is highly esteemed by the Siamese. In 
civilized countries, we find game in a putrescent slate oaten as a luxury ; this, to those 
unaccustomed to it, requires a true education. The same may be said of the pickled olive 
and of several cheeses — the fromage de Gruyere, for example, so much esteemed by tho 
inhabitants of continental Europe."— 2>W2.firZiso«-'s Rvman Physiology vol. L p. 115. 



108 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

139. Such is the great power of habit over men, that it completely 
blinds their eyes to every true principle. That which was at first offensive, 
may become at length agreeable ; and what vv^as at first manifestly injurious, 
may become apparently indifferent, or even salutary ; and as the majority 
of mankind enjoy a portion of health and comfort with w^hich they are 
contented, the operation of remote causes escapes observation ; and men 
become exceedingly unwilling to connect their sufferings with the things 
which constitute a large portion of their enjoyment ; while the example of 
persons indulging in the same habits, and yet arriving at w^hat is deemed 
extreme old age, still further confirms the delusion. 

140. The following anecdote may serve further to illustrate these 
remarks : " Now that we have fallen on the subject of national tastes, we 
must not forget to describe the most atrocious compound ever presented to 
man in the shape of food. It is the Kussian soup called ' Batinia,' which 
to English palates tastes worse than poison ; but which these our allies, 
high and low of them, delight in as the greatest delicacy on earth. Hear- 
ing so much in its praise, we ventured once, and once only — ^for there is no 
fear of its being asked for a second time — to give a hint that we should 
like to make a trial of it. But (' dura Russorum ilia !') the taste is not 
yet away from our lips; nor are we yet persuaded that the skin has 
returned to our throats. A plateful of this yellow liquid — it ought not to 
be called ' soup' — was placed before us, with a scum on its top, something 
like a thin coating of sulphur. Adventurously diving through the surface, 
what did we discover ? Lumps of rotten sturgeon, slices of bitter cucum- 
ber, spoonfuls of biting mustard ; in short, a concatenation of all the most 
putrid, most acrid, most villanous substances that nature produces. The 
witches' broth was nothing to it : 

'Eye of newt, and too of frog, 
Wing of bat, and tongue of dog,' 

would be delicacies most exquisite compared with these Russian horrors. 
But, though both smell and sight were well-nigh daunted, we resolved to 
persevere like men. We had begun the perilous adventure, and could not 
with honor draw back before taste had also been put to the proof. A 
spoonful of it was accordingly raised to the lips ; when lo ! besides other 
recommendations, it was found to be literally as cold as ice ; for the moun- 
tain projecting above the surface, which we had innocently supposed to be 
some nice redeeming jelly, of Russian invention, turned out to be a lump 
of ice from the ' frosty Caucasus,' or some other vile place. That mouthful 
was the worst we ever swallowed, It would be impossible to depict the 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 109 

looks of anguisli whicli we — a party of deluded, inexperienced English- 
men — cast on each other. It took aw£ty the breath ; tears rolled from our 
eyes ; we were more than satisfied ; we were humbled, silenced, overcome ; 
and made a vow, before the whole company of strangers, never more to be 
lured into an attempt to make new discoveries in the adventurous region 
of Russian dishes."* 

141. "As to the statement, that the different portions of the human race 
appear to have enjoyed about an equal amount of health, vigor, and lon- 
gevity, whether their food has been purely vegetable, or purely animal, or 
a mixture of the two, let it be understood that, so far as we are informed, 
no considerable portion of the human family ever intelligently adopted any 
particular mode of living, upon clear and well-ascertained physiological 
principles ; and constantly and perseveringly, from generation to genera- 
tion, adhered to a course of diet and general regimen, conformable to all 
the laws of life ; but, on the contrary, nearly every thing in the nature, 
condition, and circumstances of man, from the first transgression to the 
present hour, has served to fix his attention continually on present enjoy- 
ment ; with no further regard to future consequences than experience has 
taught him to be necessary, in order to avoid sudden destruction or intol- 
erable distress ; and hence, as we have seen, the grand experiment of the 
whole human family seems ever to have been to ascertain how far they can 
go in indulgence ; how near they can approach the brink of death, and 
yet not die so suddenly and violently as to be compelled to know that they 
have destroyed themselves. T^Tiether, therefore, men have subsisted wholly 
on vegetable or on animal food, or on a diet consisting of both, they have 
done so without any regard to correct physiological principles, either in 
relation to quality, quantity, or condition of their food ; or in relation to 
other physiological wants and habits of the body, which are nearly as 
important to the general welfare of the system as the quality and condi- 
tion of the food. If their climate and circumstances have been less favor- 
able than others to health, vigor, and longevity, they have learned from 
experience how far, as a general rule, they must restrain their indulgences, 
and in what way they must regulate their habits and appetites, so as 
to secure life long enough for one generation to become the progenitors and 
nurturing protectors of another generation. And if their climate and cir- 
cumstances have been more favorable than others to health, vigor, and lon- 
gevity, they have also learned from experience how far they may go in 
indulgence, and still keep within the bounds necessary for the perpetuation 

* Bremner's Excursions in the Interior of Eussia, vol. i. 



^10 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

of the race. So that in all cases, as a general rule, what they have wanted 
in natural advantages, they have made up in correctness of habits ; and 
what they have possessed in natural advantages, they have squandered in 
erroneousness of habits. If their climate has been salutary, they have 
indulged the more freely in dietetic and other excesses. If their food has 
been congenial to their nature, they have balanced or counteracted its good 
efiects by other things unfavorable to health, and vigor, and longevity ; 
and, in this way, the whole human family, whether inhabiting frigid, tor- 
rid, or temperate zones ; whether dwelling on high mountains, or in low 
valleys ; whether residing in ceiled houses, or living in tents, or in the open 
air ; whether subsisting on animal or vegetable food, or on a mixed diet of 
the two ; whether eating their food in its simplest and most natural state, 
or cooked and prepared in the most complicated manner ; whether confined 
to simple food and water, or indulging in every variety of condiments, and 
stimulating and intoxicating liquors and substances ; whether moderate or 
excessive in quantities ; whether cleanly or filthy ; whether chaste or lewd ; 
whether gentle or truculent ; whether peaceful or warlike ; have, in the 
great experiment to ascertain how much indulgence the human •constitution 
is capable of sustaining without sudden destruction, so balanced their good 
and evil as to preserve, throughout the world for many centuries, very 
nearly a general and uniform level, in respect to health, vigor, and longevity. 
This statement, however, is general ; and admits of many particular excep- 
tions of individuals, and sects, and societies, and perhaps tribes^ ; but these 
exceptions in no case militate against its truth as a general statement, nor 
against any of the facts on which it is predicated. The fact, then, that a 
large portion of the human family actually have, for many centuries, and 
probably ever since the Flood, subsisted to a greater or less extent on ani- 
mal food, and apparently done as well as those who have subsisted wholly 
on vegetable diet, does not, in any degree, invalidate the evidence of Com- 
parative Anatomy : that man is, naiurally and purely, a frwgivoroug 
animal."* 

* Graham's Lectures on the Science of Human Life, vol. H. p. 90 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. Ill 



CHAPTER ry. 

SENSITIVE AND MORAL FEELINGS OF MAN. 

142. The last argument I shall introduce, in favor of vegetable diet, as 
tlie natural food of man, is founded on his sensitive and moral feelings ; 
which, like his other instincts already noticed, (36,) are dependent on his 
organization, and inseparable from his nature. Every manifestation of 
pain and suffering, in a sensitive being, must at all times awaken the sym- 
pathies of the human heart; except in those who are constitutionally 
obdurate, or whose feelings have been blunted by repeated acts or scenes 
of craelty and misery. Some there are who, like a Nero, can take plea- 
sure in the sufferings of mankind and of inferior animals ; but such are 
blots upon the fair creation of God, and are unfit for the society of those 
who long for the universal reign of happiness, peace, and benevolence. 
Can we suppose, then, that the Deity would have implanted in the human 
breast such an aversion to the taking of life ; such a horror of shedding 
blood ; and such a heart-sickness on witnessing it ; such a hatred of cru- 
elty, and such a sympathy with creatures writhing with pain, if he had 
intended us to feed upon the flesh of slaughtered animals ? Would he not 
rather have formed us cruel and ferocious, like all carnivorous animals, 
which seem to derive pleasure from witnessing the suflerings of their vic- 
tims ? Or has the All-wise Creator departed from that harmony of design 
so conspicuous in all his works, and rendered necessary for man's support 
a food, the procuring of v/hich shall do violence to the best and kindliest 
feelings of his nature ; shall be continually weakening and tending to 
exteiTninate the attributes of benevolence, mercy, and love ; and gradu- 
ally defacing the image in which God created him ? Could he intend that 
the human race should eat their food with compunction ; that every morsel 
should be purchased with a pang, and every meal empoisoned v/ith 
remorse ? No ! Consistency runs through all the works and designs of 
God ! We have already seen, that the organization of man, so far as the 
procuring, masticating, and digesting of food are concerned, is strictly 
adapted to a vegetable diet ; and his sensitive and moral feelings confirm 
the views we have taken, and are in direct harmony with all other parts of 
his svstem. 



112 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

143. Much of the feeling manifested in this chapter will doubtless be 
attributed to a state of morbid sensibility ; and it must be acknowledged 
that all the sentimental faculties, as well as the propensities, are liable to 
abuse, and may be the cause of much unnecessary sorrow, when not 
directed by the intellectual powers. But an enlightened benevolence will 
endeavor to avoid each extreme, and neither give pain to its possessor at 
the sight of imaginary torture, nor yet render him insensible in the pre- 
sence of actual suffering, whether in man or brute. I cannot agree with 
ShaV j.oare, who says : 

" The poor beetle that we tread upon, 
In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great 
As when a giant dies ;" * 

because we know that the inferior development of its nervous system ren- 
ders it not so acutely sensible to pain as the higher classes of animals : we 
also know that the inferior classes experience comparatively little incon- 
venience from the loss of one or two of the limbs. But there can be little 
doubt that most of the more highly organized animals, such as various 
divisions of the vertebrata, which form so large a portion of human food, 
and whose nervous system is so similarly developed to our own, are acutely 
sensible both of pleasure and pain, and suffer dreadfully from the brutality 
of man, who abuses them in his service, hunts them for amusement, or kills 
them for food. TiU it can be shown, therefore, that organized beings, with 
a nervous structure similar to our own, do not in reality suffer from the 
wounds and bruises which we inflict on them, a rightly constituted mind 
will believe that " the feelings of the heart point more unerringly than the 
dogmas and subtleties of men, who sacrifice to custom the dearest senti- 
ments of humanity." 

144. How few of those who feed upon the flesh of slaughtered animals 
are aware of the enormous amount of excruciating pain that is inflicted to 
satisfy their unnatural appetites ! But the scenes of the slaughter-house 
are seldom, if ever, witnessed by those whose feelings are likely to be 
wounded by the struggles and cries of dying animals ; and *' what the eya 
sees not, the heart feels not." 

" Witness the patient ox, with stripes and yells 
Driven to the slaughter, goaded (as he runs) 
To madness ; while the savage at his heels 
Laughs at the frantic sufferer's fury, spent 
Upon the guiltless passenger o'erthrown."+ 

* Measure for Measure, Ac . 3, Scene 1. + Cowper. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 113 

145. In all parts of the world where flesh-meat is used for food, the art 
of torturing dumb animals for the pu^30se of pampering a perverted appe- 
tite is carried to such an extreme as to shock any sensitive mind. 

" Creation's groans through ocean, earth and sky, 
Ascend from all that walk, or swim, or fly." * 

14G. Even in the warm climate of Abyssinia, a marked penchant exists 
for raw flesh cut out of an animal alive, and while the fibres are yet quiver- 
ing. Not only Bruce, but Pearce and Coffin, who remained in the country 
and became intimately acquainted with the manners of the people, give 
shocking details of the cruelty that is there practised. The favorite por- 
tion is called the shulada, and is cut out, on each side, from the buttocks, 
near the tail. As soon as these are taken away, the wounds are sewed up 
by these surgical butchers, and plastered over with cow-dung. The animal, 
which had been thrown down before and during the operation, is now 
allowed to rise, and is driven forward on his journey. The fashionable 
parties at Goudar, the capital of Abyssinia, are served with brinde or raw 
meat, with the same hospitable feeling as, in our part of the world, they 
would be with venison-chops done just to the turn. The animal — a cow 
or a bullock — is brought to the door, and the dainty pieces cut off in the 
manner above described. But on this occasion the animal is killed ; before 
doing which, all the flesh is cut off in solid square pieces, without bones or 
much efRision of blood. Two or three servants are then employed, who, 
as fast as they can procure the brinde, lay it upon cakes of tefif placed like 
dishes down the table, without cloth or any thing else beneath them. The 
fast-days of these carnivorous and licentious people, misnamed Christians, 
amount to no less than a hundred and sixty-five in the year. The fast is 
only preserved, however, until about three o'clock in the afternoon, after 
which, they make up for their former reserve." f In son^e parts of the 
East, animals are cruelly whipped to death to render their flesh tender. 

147. " The celebrated pates de fois gras prepared at Strasbourg are 
made of the livers of geese, artificially enlarged by the cruel process ot 
shutting the birds up in coops, within a room heated to a very high tem- 
perature, and stuffing them constantly with food." J 

148. A person lately passing through Leadeuhall market, observed on a 
stall a chicken which, though it had been plucked, was still alive and in 
motion ; while several others were undergoing the same process. When 
the gentleman remonstrated with those who were thus torturing the poor 

* Poetical "Works of JaDies Montgomery. Yol. iv. p. 134. 

t Dr. John Bell on Eegimen and Longevity, p. 59. 

X Murray's " Hand Book for Travellers on the Continent." (1836.) 



114 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

creatures, lie received nothing but abuse in return. The following article, 
as well as many others of a like character, has appeared in the newspapers : 
*' Conveyance of Calves. — Notwithstanding the strenuous exertions of 
the Eoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to promote a 
more humane conveyance of these animals to and from the^various markets, 
we are often compelled to witness cart-loads of calves closely packed 
together, with their legs tied tightly, and their heads hanging down over 
the back and sides of the carts, tossing to and fro, and knocking against 
each other with great violence. They are frequently conveyed in this 
torturing position, thirty, forty, and even fifty miles, and when examined 
at their journey's end, many are found dead." We also read of various 
acts of torture resorted to for the purpose of compelling animals to obey 
the wills of their tormentors ; such as sawing their tails, and, what is still 
worse, dislocating every joint of their tails ; and the agents of the above- 
named Society have frequently to interfere in such cases. Doubtless, such 
acts of cruelty are unnecessary, and animals might be killed for food with- 
out causing them so much pain even as they might suffer by a natural 
death, but I fear there is little chance of inducing the general adoption of 
milder treatment and more expeditious processes than are at present 
employed. The opinions of others on this subject may not be unaccept- 
able to the reader. 

149. " Nothing can be more shocking and horrid," says Pope, " than one 
of our kitchens sprinkled with blood, and abounding with the cries of 
creatures expiring, or with the limbs of dead animals scattered or hung 
up here and there. It gives one the image of a giant's den in romance ; 
bestrewed with scattered heads and mangled limbs." 

150. Diogenes observed, that " we might as well eat the flesh of men as 
the flesh of other animals." And Cicero remarked, that *' man was des- 
tined to a better occupation than that of pursuing and cutting the throats 
of dumb creatures." 

151. Plutarch remarks, " How could man bear to see an impotent and 
defenceless creature slaughtered, skinned, and cut up for food? How 
could he endure the sight of the convulsed limbs and muscles ? How bear 
the smell arising from the dissection ? "Whence came it that he was not 
disgusted and struck with horror, when he came to handle the bleeding 
flesh, and clear away the clotted blood and humors from the wounds? 
We should, therefore, rather wonder at those who first indulged themselves 
in this horrible repast, than at such as have humanely abstained from it." 

152. Dr. Cheyne says, " I have sometimes indulged the conjecture, that 
animal food, and made or artificial liquors, in the original frame of our 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. lift 



nature and design of our creation, were not intended for human creatures. 
They seem to me neither to have those strong and fit organs for digesting 
them, (at least such as birds and beasts of prey have that live on ilesh,) 
nor those cruel and hard hearts, or those diabolical passions which would 
easily suffer them to tear and destroy their fellow-creatures : at least, not 
in the first and early ages ; before every man had corrupted his way, and 
God was forced to exterminate the whole race by a universal deluge ; and 
was also obliged to shorten their lives from nine hundred or a thousand 
years to seventy." 

153. " To see the convulsions, agonies, and tortures of a poor fellow- 
creature," continues Dr. Cheyne, *' whom they cannot restore or recompense, 
dying to gratify luxury, must require a rocky heart and a great degree of 
cruelty and ferocity." " I cannot find," adds he, " any great difference, on 
the foot of natural reason and equity only, between feeding on human flesh 
and feeding on brute animal flesh, except custom and example. I believe 
some rational creatures would suffer less in being fairly butchered, than a 
strong ox or red deer ; and in natural morality and justice, the degrees of 
pain here make the essential difference." * " But animals, in our degene- 
rate age, are every day perishing under the hands of barbarity without 
notice, without mercy ; famished, as if hunger were no evil ; mauled, as if 
they had no sense of pain ; and hurried about incessantly from day to day, 
as if excessive toil were no plague, or extreme weariness were no degree of 
suffering. Surely the sensibility of brutes entitles them to a milder treat- 
ment than they usually meet with from hard and unthinking wretches. 
Man ought to look on them as creatures under his protection, and not as 
put into his power to be tormented. Few of them know how to defend 
themselves against him as well as he knows how to attack them. For a 
man, therefore, to torture a brute, shows a meanness of spirit, (particularly, 
if he is slaughtering it for the table.) f 

154. Dr. Hawkesworth observes, ''Among other dreadful and disgusting 
images which custom has rendered familiar, are those which arise from 
eating animal food. He who has ever turned with abhorrence from the 
skeleton of a beast which has been picked whole by birds or vermin, must 
confess that habit alone could have enabled him to endure the sight of the 
mangled bones and flesh of a dead carcass which every day cover his table ; 
and he who reflects on the number of lives that have been sacrificed to 
sustain his own, should inquire by what the account has been balanced ; 
and whether his life is become proportionably of more value by the exercise 



* Cheyne's Essay on Eegimen. 

t Bee Dean w the Future Life of Brutes. 



116 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

of virtue and piety, by the superior happiness which he has communicated 
to reasonable beings, and by the glory which his intellect has ascribed to 
God." * 

155. Were a person under the necessity of killing all the animals whose 
limbs he devours, then would he more frequently be led to ask whether 
that food could be natural to him, the procuring of which does such vio- 
lence to other parts of his nature. His sympathies would then be a 
greater check upon his desires for flesh ; and he would more frequently be 
induced to satisfy his hunger with the rich, abundant, and delicious products 
of the vegetable world. But if we shrink from the task of taking life 
ourselves, and shun the scenes of cruelty inflicted by others upon dumb 
animals, why should we by our gross, unnatural appetites render it a work 
of necessity to our domestics and those who supply our larders ? Far be 
it from me to infer that either a butcher or a sportsman is necessarily more 
cruel than another man, either to his own species, or to the animals he 
slays for our food. Many of those whose business it is to destroy life are 
known to be humane and merciful, and would spare unnecessary pain to 
the beasts they kill ; but it cannot be denied that there are others thus 
employed who become callous and unfeeling ; utterly regardless of the 
pains they thoughtlessly, or even wilfully, inflict. Young people early 
trained to the habit of taking life, gradually lose all sympathy for the 
beasts they ill-treat ; and the direct tendency of such constant employment 
is to blunt the feelings and deteriorate the whole character. If, then, by 
our flesh-eating habits, such duties become necessary, we are virtually cul- 
pable not only for causing much pain and misery to the animal creation, 
but also for corrupting the morals of our fellow-creatures, and for giving 
birth to much brutal ferocity. It is, therefore, our duty, and, as will here- 
after be shown, our interest — for real duty and true interest always har- 
monize — to discountenance the slaughter of any part of the animal creation 
for our food. 

156. The Gentoos rear numerous herds of cattle ; but such is their 
veneration for these animals — on account of their useful and patient ser- 
vices to man — that to kill or even maim one of them is deemed a capital 
offence." f "Among the Wallachians, though there is no positive institu- 
tion to the contrary, yet the women never destroy the life of any creature. 
Whether this custom was founded by some of their ancient legislators, or 
whether it originated from incidental circumstances, is uncertain ; but 
however that may be, nothing can be more suitable to the gentleness anc" 

* Edition of Swift's Worka. 

t M. Be Page's Travels, vol. ii., p, 27. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 117 

timidity which form the most beautiful and engaging part of the female 
character." * 

157. Beasts of prey shun the light, as if ashamed of their cruelties. 

" Not so the steady tyrant man ; 
"Who— with the thoughtless insolence of power, 
Inflamed beyond the most infuriate wrath 
Of the worst monster that e'er roamed the waste — 
For sport alone pursues the cruel chase, 
Amid the beamings of the gentle day. 
Upbraid, ye ravening tribes, our wanton rage 1 
For hunger kindles you, and lawless want ; 
But, lavish fed, in nature's bounty rolled, 
To joy at anguish, and delight in blood, 
Is what your horrid bosoms never knew." t 

158. " Oun there be a more gratifying spectacle," observes Dr. Eoget, 
" than to see an animal, in the full vigor of health and the free exercise of 
its powers, disporting in its native element, revelling in the bliss of exist- 
ence, and testifying by its incessant gambols the exuberance of its joy ?'' 
Yet cruel man — to gratify an acquired habit, which (as I shall hereafter 
show) only mars and abridges his existence — cuts short their innocent 
pleasures, and causes them to agonize to no useful purpose. "By long 
habit and familiarity with scenes of blood, men at length view them with- 
out emotion ; but observe the young child which is told that the chicken 
it has fed and played with is to be killed : are not the tears it sheds, and 
the agonies it endures, the voice of nature itself, crying within us and 
pleading the cause of humanity ?" " The merciful man is merciful to his 
beast ;" and the man of sensibility " will hate the brutal pleasures of the 
chase by instinct : it will be a contemplation full of horror and disappoint- 
ment to his mind, that beings capable of the gentlest and most admirable 
sympathies should take delight in the death-pangs and last convulsions of 
dying animals." 

159. There is no antipathy between man and other animals which indi- 
cates that nature has intended them for acts of mutual hostility. Numerous 
observations of travellers and voyagers have proved, that in uninhabited 
islands or in countries where animals are not disturbed or hunted, they 
betray no fear of men : the birds will suffer themselves to be taken by the 
hand; the foxes will approach him like a dog." These are no feeble 
indications that nature intended him to live in peace with the other tribes 
of animals. 

* Dr. W. Alexander's History of Women, vol. 1., p. 866, 
t Thomson's Autumn, L. 390. 



118 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

160. There are circumstances, however, which will justify man in taking 
animal life if care be taken to prevent all unnecessary sufiering;. These 
circumstances appear to me well enumerated by the poet Cowper : 

" The sum is this : if man's convenience, health, 
Or safety interfere, his rights and claims 
Are paramount, and must extinguish theirs. 
Else they are all — the meanest things that are — 
As free to live, and to enjoy that life, 
As G-od was free to form them at the first, 
Who Ji His sovereign wisdom made them all. 
Ye, therefore, who love mercy, teach your sons 
To love it too."* 

161. Ovid represents Pythagoras giving directions to the same purport: 

. " Take not away the life you cannot give ; 

For all things have an equal right to live. 
Kill noxious creatures where 'tis sin to save : 
This only just prerogative we have : 
But nourish life with vegetable food. 
And shun the sacrilegious taste of blood. "t '4 

[Note 14. The flesh-eaters of New York — and probably the remarks 
about to be made will hold true in relation to many other cities — are not 
generally aware of the large quantity of spoiled or putrid meat which is 
sold in market, after having undergone a " doctoring" process, which re- 
stores its natural color, and takes away the putrescent smell. A few weeks 
ago, one of our daily papers, the Tribune, related the particulars of a 
" mercantile transaction," wherein a large lot of poultry which, in conse- 
quence of having been brought a long distance and a sudden change in the 
weather, had become black and fetid, was sold for $50, or about one-tenth 
of a cent per pound. The purchaser soaked it in alum and otherwise 
managed it so that it sold for ten cents a pound, the " speculation" yielding 
a clear profit of some $800. Beef, pork, and other spoiled and tainted 
meats are often treated in a similar manner, and sold for a " prime article." 

T.] 

OBJECTIONS. 

162. Several objections may here be noticed. " Why were sheep, oxen, 
&c., created, if not for the use of man ?" I might briefly reply that they 
were brought into existence by the same power, and for a similar purpose, 
as all other animals ; many of which man never knew, and probably never 
will know ; and many others of which are absolutely injurious and de- 

♦ Task, Back vi. t Metamorphoses, Book xv., L. 705. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 119 

Btructive to him. At no time, perhaps, are the pride and imbecility of 
man more apparent than when he imagines all things, animate and inani- 
mate, to have been created solely for his pleasure. There exist millions of 
8UUS with their revolving orbs, which the eye of man has never witnessed ; 
and myriads of animals, on this globe and others, enjoy their sports and 
pastimes unheeded and unseen by him : how, then, could they have been 
created for his use " 

"Ask for what end the heavenly bodies ehine, 
Earth for whose use ? Pride answers : ' "Tis for mine ! 
For me kind Nature wakes her genial power, 
Suckles each herb, and spreads out every flower; 
Annual for me the grape, the rose renew 
The juice nectareous and the balmy dew ; 
For me the mine a thousand treasures brings ; 
For me health gushes from a thousand springs ; 
Seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise ; 
My footstool earth, my canopy the skies.' 
Has God (thou fool !) worked solely for thy good ; 
Ihy joy, thy pastime, thy attire, thy food? 
Who for thy table feeds the wanton fawn, 
For him as kindly spreads the flowery lawu. 
Is it for thee the lark ascends and sings ? 
Joy tunes his voice, joy elevates his wings. 
Is it for thee the linnet pours his throat? 
Loves of his own and raptures swell the note. 
Kjiow, Nature's children all divide her care : 
The fur that warms a monarch, warmed a bear. 
While man exclaims — ' See all things for my use V 
See man for mine I' — replies a pampered goose. 
And just as short of reason he must fall 
Who thinks all made for one, not one for all."* 

163. These lines of Pope convey much instruction ; and teach us, that 
all animals were created for their own enjoyment ; for mutual advantages ; 
and for the preservation of that universal harmony in nature to which all 
the varied forms of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms are made 
to contribute. Certain acari, pediculi, and entozoa, prey upon man, whose 
body (externally or internally) is their natural and only habitat : it seems 
necessary to their very existence. With much more apparent reason, 
therefore, might it be said, that man was created for these loathsome crea- 
tures, than that sheep, oxen, and other animals, were formed for his use ; 
since they are not indispensable to his health and happiness. Whatever 
man can press into his service, whether for food, raiment, or pleasure ; 
whatever can be made to minister to his necessities, real or imaginary ; 

♦ Essay on Man. Epls. i., 1. 131. 



120 NATURAL FOOD OP MAN. 

these his pride and selfishness prompt him to believe were given solely for 
his use ; and because the flesh of gregarious and other animals is found to 
be nutritious, he concludes that the sole design of the Creator, in impart- 
ing vitality to them, was to supply him with food, clothing, and other con- 
veniences : but few men who think seriously on the subject will consider 
the inference a just one. 

164. But it will be said : "If we allow such animals to multiply, they 
will soon become so numerous as to consume the greater portion of the 
food required for the use of mankind." I reply, that so soon as they cease 
to be necessary to man, he will no longer increase their numbers by his 
fostering care ; and if they still continue so numerous as to interfere with 
his own comfort and happiness, he will either prevent their breeding so 
extensively, or kill them from necessity. I may also observe that the 
various races of animals, if left to themselves, are a check upon each other, 
and prevent the excessive multiplication of any particular kind : and thus 
by the irreversible laws of an all-wise Being is the balance of creation 
preserved. " Let nature follow her own course with regard to all that 
lives." The answer to this objection, however, may be safely deferred till 
time and circumstances shall require it. 

165. Again ; it will be asked : " Wlmt shall we do for clothing, shoes, 
&c., if animals are not killed ?" When vegetable diet becomes so general 
as this question looks forward to, and when the supply is inadequate to the 
demand, the ingenuity of man will soon discover the means of introducing 
abundance of substitutes. In contemplating such extensive changes in 
the habits of a nation, it is well to have a prudent regard to consequences ; 
but such changes must necessarily be so slow and gradual, that any e^il 
arising from them would be easily counteracted, long before it could be 
extensively felt. Besides, if the diet of a nation should become so totally 
altered that the^ flesh of animals is not at all needed, and yet their wool, 
milk, &c., indispensable ; numerous flocks and herds would doubtless be 
kept for the supply of those articles only ; as was the case in the time of 
the patriarchs, (23,) and as is the case now in some parts of Asia and 
Africa. (274.) The principal expense in keeping sheep is in rendering 
them unnaturally fat ; and if protected for their wool merely, the poorest 
lands, and such as are unfit for any other purpose, would be appropriated 
for their support. Thus fed, their wool would cost us no more than it 
does at present, and yet it would be of much better quality. Mr. Culley 

^says that the Herefordshire sheep, which produce the finest wool, are kept 
lean, and yield one pound and a half each ; he adds : " If they be better 
kept, they grow large, and produce more wool, but of an inferior »!ualit- '' 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 121 

From a table furnished by Mr. Fison, a wool-sorter, it appears that, of 
fifteen tods or four hundred and twenty pounds of clothing-wool grown in 
Norfolk, in 1790, two hundred pounds were prime ; while, in 1828, the 
same quantity of Norfolk wool only yielded fourteen pounds prime * 
Other witnesses corroborated this statement.! If the whole or majority 
of a nation, therefore, should hereafter abandon the use of flesh diet, they 
would still have sufficient means in their poAver to provide themselves with 
warm clothing, either by the discovery of substitutes for wool, or by keep- 
ing animals for its production ; and under a vegetable diet much more 
laud would be available for such purposes. (506, 507.) 

166. Another inquiry is : " How can the land be cultivated without the 
manure resulting from the keeping and feeding of sheep, oxen, &c. ?" It 
is evident, I think, that these animals can return no more to the land than 
they take from it : consequently, if they be otherwise unnecessary to man, 
the land appropriated to their support may be employed in producing an 
extended supply of fruit, roots, grain, and other vegetables adapted to his 
wants. Yet the question will be reiterated : " Where is the manure to 
come from?" I profess not be sufficiently acquainted with agriculture to 
answer this question so fully as it deserves ; but it is well known to scien- 
tific inquirers, as well as to the best practical cultivators of land, that a 
considerable portion of our strongest and most valuable manures, both 
fluid and solid, are entirely wasted ; and which, if properly economized, 
would far more than supply the loss we are supposing : in addition to 
which, we should have a considerable quantity from those animals which 
would be at all times protected for the production of milk, butter, wool, 
&c. ; and, under a general vegetable diet, the land (as will be shown here- 
after) would produce much beyond what man could require for his own 
consumption, even in this densely-populated country. 

167. Again : from the rapid advances lately made in agricultural clie- 
Tiistry, it is perhaps not unreasonable to expect that, ere long, artificial 
Jianures may be produced so easily and so cheaply as to make up for any 
leficiency that may arise from the diminished numbers of gregarious ani- 
iuals-t Our knowledge of vegetable economy may become so complete, 
:ind our acquaintance with the wants of the various families of plants so 
iitimate, as to enable us to supply them with the most appropriate kind 
)f nourishment, and to cultivate them in circumstances the most favorable 
^r developing their nutritive qualities in the highest perfection. 

* Report of Evidence taken before the House of Lords, 1828, p. 207. 

t Report, pp. 383, 640, and 644. 
; t Since the above was written, Professor Liebig has taken out a patent for several kinds 
ft artlflcial manures, suited to diffierent crops, and further discoveries raay expected 

\ 6 



122 NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 

168. Some persons, in justification of the slaughter of animals for 
human food, contend that the sum total of animal pleasure is thereby pro- 
moted ; since it encourages the breed of gregarious animals, and it is the 
duty and interest of their owner to feed and protect them : consequently, 
more animals are brought into existence than would otherwise be the case ; 
and their enjoyment overbalances the pains they are made to endure. It 
would, however, be a difficult question to determine whether animals thus 
multiplied, in order to supply our artificial wants, do actually experience 
more pleasure than pain, during the short period of existence we allow them. 
If we take into consideration the miserable way in which many of them 
are cooped up ; the mutilation which many others undergo, in order to de- 
stroy the instincts which nature bestowed upon them to enhance their plea- 
sures ; the captivity which aU have to submit to, contrary to their natural 
desires ; the privations they endure in consequence of inappropriate and 
iusuflBcient food, in confined situations ; the diseases we entail on many, by 
abridging their freedom, and by confining them to food which they would 
not prefer were they more at liberty to seek out their own ; and the pain 
we cause them in a variety of ways, besides what they experience immedi- 
ately before and at the time of slaughter ; the question as to the prepon- 
derance of pain or pleasure becomes, I think, too difficult for ug to settle. 

169. But if we are the means of bringing animals into existence, we do 
them injustice if we abridge their liberty, destroy their instincts, or pre- 
vent their enjoying any of those pleasures which nature has qualified 
them for receiving. If their flesh be not only unnecessary, but absolutely 
injurious to man, (as will be shown hereafter,) then every pain we inflict 
upon them is no less than wanton cruelty, and cannot be compensated by 
the pleasures we procure them. For the sake of argument, however, let 
us admit that the sum total of pleasure greatly exceeds the sum total of 
pain, in those animals which receive existence in consequence of our car- 
nivorous habits : it will be proved, in another part of this work, that on 
a pure, substantial, and nutritious vegetable diet, a much greater popula- 
tion of human beings could be supported, in full health and strength, than 
on either an animal or a mixed diet ; and to provide means of comfortable 
subsistence and enjoyment for a rapidly-increasing human population, is 
an object as much more worthy our attention, as the varied pleasures and 
happiness of man arS superior to the mere sensual enjoyments of the brute. 
It is true, that if vegetable diet were more general, fewer animals would 
be bred, and much of the present pasture-land would be appropriated to 
the production of fruit, grain, and roots ; but the means for obtaining the 
greatest amount of human happiness would be considerably increased. 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 123 

It has been contended that man was naturally carnivorous, because in 
infancy he feeds on milk, which is an animal product. This argument 
would prove too much, because the young of all the Mammalia, not except- 
ing the herbivora, are supported by milk ; but who, on that account, 
would contend that the sheep and the ox are carnivorous ? It would be 
equally logical to conclude that all animals are carnivorous because, ante- 
rior to birth, they derive their nourishment from the blood of the mother. 
Milk is wisely designed for the support of the Mammalia till teeth are sup- 
plied for the mastication of solid food. 

170. I shall conclude this part of the subject with the excellent address 
of an ancient and distinguished priest of India : " Children of the sun, 
listen to the dying advice of your faithful and affectionate instructor, who 
hastens to the bosom of the great Allah, to give an account, and to enjoy 
the expected rewards of his services. Tour regimen ought to be simple 
and inartificial. Drink only the pure, simple water. It is the beverage 
of nature ; and not by any means, nor in any way, to be improved by art ! 
Eat only fruits and vegetables. Let the predaceous animals prey on car- 
nage and blood ! Stain not the divine gentleness of your natures by one 
act of cruelty to the creatures beneath you ! Heaven, to protect them, 
hath placed you at their head. Be not treacherous to the important trust 
you hold, by murdering those you ought to preserve ; nor defile your bodies 
by filling tli.cm with putrefaction. There is enough of vegetables and fruits 
to supply your appetites, without oppressing them bv carrion, or drenching 
them in blood." 



PAET III. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



PAKT III 



BEST FOOD OF MAN 



CHAPTER I. 

VEGETABLE/! -Jl 'ATTAIN ALL THE ELEMENTS AND QUALITIES NECESSARY FOR 
THE COMPLETE NUTRITION OF MAN. 

171. K.4Yvi*»^ seen that history and science bear ample testimony to the 
trtith, that T?<^etables were the original, and are (now as well as in former 
ages) the r«tural food of man, the inference that they are also his best 
food, seer^s unavoidable ; but as evidence of a totally different nature from 
that already produced can be brought to prove the latter, independently of 
the two former propositions, the whole three may be considered established, 
as clearly and firmly as questions of such a nature admit. First, then, we 
must inquire, what important purposes food is designed to answer in the 
human economy ; secondly, whether vegetables possess the elements and 
qualities necessary for answering those purposes ; thirdly, we must ascer- 
tain whether they are easy of digestion ; and, lastly, whether they are 
superior to animal food, or a mixed diet, for sustaining all the vital pro- 
cesses ; for producing the " mens sana in corpore sano," in the greatest 
perfection, and for the longest period. 

172. The life of all organized beings is a state of perpetual warfare 
with unorganized matter. No organized structure is, for a single moment, 
in a state of absolute repose ; nor in two successive moments perfectly 
identical. The human body is every instant undergoing a change, and 
losing minute but innumerable particles of its substance. Every motion 
of our limbs, every manifestation of force, every sensation we experience 
from without, and every mental affection within, is accompanied by a 
transformation in the structure of the solids, and by changes in the chemi- 
cal nature of the secreted fluids. The worn-out particles of the body are 
separated from the system, by means of various organs adapted to that 
purpose, in the form of excretions ; as by the skin, lungs, liver, kidneys, 
adipose tissue, and intestinal canal. Thus, during life, an uninterrupted 

147 



128 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

series of transformations is constantly taking place ; and, consequently, the 
body would in a very short time become completely emaciated, the organs 
would gradually cease to perform their functions, and death would very 
soon put an end to all vital phenomena, unless fresh matter were supplied 
for renewing the parts that have undergone transformation. 

173. It is in the ultimate tissue of the body, where the capillary vessels 
are spread out as a beautiful net-work, that the grand phenomena of life 
take place : here the whole body is in a state of constant mutation, of 
decay and reconstruction ; depending upon the joint influence of the oxy- 
gen of the atmosphere and the blood. The process seems to be as follows : 
When a quantity of atmospheric air has been received into the lungs by 
an act of inspiration, it there meets with the venous or dark-colored blood, 
which has arrived from all parts of the body, loaded with impurities. 
Several changes then take place. The carbonic acid, which is the cause 
of this dark color, is set at liberty ; and the protoxide of iron contained 
in the globules of the blood, becomes a peroxide, by uniting with a part of 
the oxygen contained in the air inhaled."^ In this state, the blood (now of 
a bright red color) is conveyed, by the action of the heart, through the 
arteries, to all parts of the systeui ; and in those minute vessels termed 
" capillaries," the peroxide of iron gives off half its oxygen, and is again 
reduced to a protoxide,^* which combines with the carbon and hydrogen 
set free, in the same situation, by the decomposition of the tissues ; and 
the iron (in the state of carbonate) returns to the lungs, where it ex- 
changes its equivalent of carbonic acid for one of oxygen, and is conveyed 
to the tissues as before. Thus we see that muscles, tendons, nerves, bones, 
nails, hair, and all the other solids and fluids of the body, (which are ever 
in a state of fluctuation,) derive their origin from that important fluid — 
the blood. This liquid flesh, (as it is sometimes termed,) as it passes 
through the capillaries, deposits the materials of each organ — be it muscle, 
nerve, or bone — wherever the decomposed particles require renewal ; and 
the same vital current, loaded with the products of chemical transforma- 
tion — carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, &c. — finds access to the various excre- 
tory organs, where these eSete materials are given ofi"; and, after under- 
going its last degree of purification in the lungs, it is returned again to 
the heart. 

[Note 15. The doctrine that the color of the blood is owing to the 
presence of iron, is a mere hypothesis, assumed by many physiologists, but 

* The fibrin, oxidized in the lungs, is, according to Mulder, the principal, if not the only, 
carrier of the oxygen of the air ; it is especially this substance from which the secretions aro 
formed.— Simon's Animal Chemistry translated.— Dr. Day, vol. i., p. 12. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



129 



which none of them have proved. Indeed, I think the balance of evidence 
is altogether against it. T.l 

174. The blood is thus gradually exhausted by building up and renewing 
the solid structure of the body ; and itself requires constant renewal by 
daily supplies of food. This food is partially prepared for digestion, in the 
mouth, by mastication and iusalivation ; it is then passed along the 
oesophagus into the stomach, where it undergoes various chemical changes, 
and is converted into chyme ; it then passes through an aperture at the right 
extremity of the stomach, called the " pylorus," into the duodenum, where 
it undergoes still further change, by the action of several secretions from 
the duodenum, liver, and pancreas ; it is finally elaborated into a white 
fluid denominated " chyle," which is taken up by minute vessels termed 
" lacteals," and passes along the thoracic duct, which terminates in an 
angle formed by the union of the internal jugular and subclavian veins. 
Thence it flows, mixed with particles of organized matter, lymph, and 
venous blood, to the heart, by which it is transmitted to the lungs, where 
all these dififerent fluids are converted into one substance, arterial blood, to 
be sent out by the left side of the heart to the system, for its support. 
The principal purpose of food, therefore, is to supply nutriment to the 
body, in order to compensate for the waste constantly taking place from 
the decomposition of the tissues by the action of oxygen.'^ 

FlGXTBE 81. 




MAKING FOOD INTO BLOOD. 



[Note 16. The process of blood-making is weU illustrated in figure 31. 



180 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

The stomach is represented pouring its properly digested contents through 
the pyloric valve, a, at its right end, into the duodenum, the first portion 
of the intestines. The ducts from the liver, h, and pancreas, c, are seen 
contributing their necessary juices to the chyme ; and the jejumen, d, d, d, 
with its numerous lacteals, f, f, f, readj to absorb the required nourish- 
ment, to convey it along the mesentery, e, e, e, change it materially in 
the mesenteric glands, g, g, g, which appear something like knots of beads, 
and to deposit the fluid thus changed in the receptacle of the ckyle, h, //., 
whence it passes up the thoracic duct, i, and is poured mto the subclavian 
vein to be mingled with the venous blood. T.] 

175. But there is also another important end to be answered by the 
proximate principles or ultimate elements contained in food : namely, the 
production of animal heat ; without which all the varied functions of life 
would immediately cease. Azotized articles of food, termed also the 
" plastic elements of nutrition," and (by Dr. Prout) the " albuminous class 
of aliments," are generally believed to be specially and principally designed 
for the former purpose. They were found, by Mulder, to be modifications 
of a certain compound, which he has named " protein," (from .rpwTSi^w, 
I hold the first place,) . yihich. is composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, 
and oxygen ; as in the formula C^^ H^e, N«, 0'\ (Liebig.) The same 
chemist " has discovered two oxides of protein ; a binoxide and tritoxide ; 
both of which are formed in the animal economy, and constitute, when 
combined with fatty matter, the buflfy coat of inflamed blood. He 
believes that the protein of the food reaches the right side of the heart, 
circulates through the lungs, and combines with oxygen ; forming oxy-pro- 
tein, (binoxide, tritoxide, or both ;) this reaches the nutrient capillaries, 
and all or part is decomposed ; the oxygen being employed for the disor- 
ganization of worn-out tissue, and the protein, thus deoxidized, being 
deposited to supply its place. If more protein be set free than is wanted 
for the growth of tissue, it passes unchanged into the veins, to be again 
oxidized in the lungs. The tritoxide of protein, being soluble in water, is 
better enabled to traverse the minutest capillaries than if it existed merely 
diffused through the fluid containing it."* 

176. The azotized principles, fibrin, albumen or gluten, and casein, are 
capable of being assimilated, and converted into the various animal organs 
and tissues ; and only differ from each other by small but essential quanti- 
ties of mineral substances; such as sulphur, phosphorus, potash, soda, 
common salt, and phosphate of lime. 

* Urinary Deposits, by Dr. G. Bird, p. 8. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 181 

177. The non-azotized principles are supposed to minister principally to 
the support of respiration and the production of animal heat. They are 
divided by Dr. Prout into two groups : the saccharine, comprehending 
sugar, starch, and gum ; and the oleaginous, which includes oils, fat, and 
spirits. Liebig asserts, that the non-azotized principles are incapable of 
supporting life and nourishing the tissues ; but his opinion on this point, 
as we shall see presently, is questionable.* It is pretty well ascertained, 
however, that one important use, to the Herbivora and to man, of sub- 
stances containing these principles, is to supply carbon and hydrogen; 
which, by uniting with oxygen, produce muscular force and animal heat ; 
if not supplied with these principles, their organs would be destroyed by 
the action of oxygen. Professor Liebig calculates, that about fourteen 
ounces of carbon are daily burned in the body of an adult man ; and that 
sufficient heat is thus given out to maintain the temperature, and to ac- 
count for all the gaseous matter and water expelled from the lungs. 
Although this view of the effects produced by the saccharine principles 
may be in the main correct, yet certain facts are scarcely reconcilable 
with their exclusive appropriation to the production of caloric. The diet 
of the inhabitants of the tropics, for instance, aboimds with carbon and 
hydrogen, which would be likely to generate a much greater quantity of 
heat than could readily escape in the high temperatures to which they ai'e 
exposed : it is probable, therefore, that a portion of these non-azotized 
compounds is converted into nutriment, by a union with the nitrogen of 
the atmosphere. (200.) We must inquire, secondly, whether vegetables 
possess the elements and qualities necessary for answering the purposes 
above mentioned. 

178. Some years ago, when organic chemistry had been little investi- 
gated, it was generally supposed that vegetables were deficient in that im- 
portant element termed " azote," or " nitrogen," which enters largely il'"© 
the composition of the blood and flesh, or muscle, of all auiraals. It was 
therefore concluded, that vegetables are insufficient for the due support 
and renewal of the human body ; and that the flesh of other animals is a 
necessary article of diet for man. Now, without the aid of chemistry, it is 
demonstrable that either the assumption or the inferen'^i is incorrect. For 

* " If gelatine-sugar be in reality a compound of cane-sugar q which one equivalent of 
urea has been substituted for one equivalent of water, it is hi?' y probable that, when sugar 
is brought into the body aa a substance, it may there form w uerous combinations, and may 
by no means be destined merely to maintain the functio of respiration. If gelatine be 
formed in the animal body, then sugar, either derived d' dctly from the food, or produced 
from starch in the alimentary canal, may be used for thi: purpose."— Mulder's Chemistry of 
Vegetable and Animal Physiology, p. 236. 



182 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

as the flesh of sheep, oxen, and other herbivorous animals, is acknowledged 
to contain as much nitrogen^' as the flesh of man, I would simply ask ; 
** Whence do they derive it ? In whatever way they obtain the nitrogen, 
man may also acquire it, although he should never taste flesh ; provided 
his organization be adapted for assimilating food of a vegetable nature, 
which has been already proved.f Now, in herbivorous animals, there 
appears to be only five possible sources of azote : 1. The vegetables upon 
which they feed. 2. The air swallowed with the food. 3. The converting 
powers of the secretions of the various viscera ; as the stomach, liver, pan- 
creas, &c. 4. The azote resulting from the decomposed tissues being again 
organized. 5. The atmosphere, by means of the process of respiration. 

179. If we admit the conclusion of former chemists, that vegetables 
contain little or no nitrogen, then, whatever portion of this element the 
flesh of herbivorous animals contains, we must evidently refer to one or 
more of the four remaining sources ; and to whichever of these we attribute 
it, we are bound to admit that man has equal facilities for obtaining it, even 
if confined to a vegetable diet. Let us first inquire, then, what light 
physiology throws upon the subject ; and then proceed with an examina- 
tion of the proximate and ultimate principles of vegetables. 

180. The Herbivora swallow much more air with their food than the 
Carnivora ; and Bespretz has ascertained, by experiment, that the former 
expire more nitrogen than the latter ; a fact which is inexplicable unless 
we admit that nitrogen can be supplied in larger quantities than the food 
itself contains. The Carnivora never masticate their food ; but the Herbi- 
vora and man have teeth adapted to this purpose, by which means the food 
becomes intimately mixed with the saliva, which Liebig says possesses the 
property of enclosing air in the shape of froth, in a far higher degree than 
even soap-suds. " This air," he observes, " by means of the saliva, reaches 
the stomach with the food, and there its oxygen enters into combination, 

* The recent researches of Messrs. Macaire and Marcet tend to establish the important fact, 
that both the chyle and the blood of herbivorous and of carnivorous quadrupeds are identi- 
cal in their chemical composition ; in as far, at least, as concerns their ultimate analysis. 
They found, in particular, the same proportion of nitrogen in the chyle, whatever kind of 
food the animal habitually consumed; and it was also the same in the blood, whether of 
carnivorous or herbivorous animals ; although this last fluid contains more nitrogen than the 
chyle.— Memoires de la Societe de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Geneve, v. 389. 
Eoget's Bridgewater Treatise, vol. ii., p. 53. 

t " Look at the elephant ; whence is this mass of flesh derived ? Fish and leeches kept in 
glass vessels of pure water not only live, but increase in weight and size ; now, as nitrogen 
is an abuLdant constituent of their structure, whence can it be derived, but from the air 
which exists in combination with the water ?"— Dr. Searle's Philosophy of Life, Health, and 
Disease, p. 62. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 188 

while its nitrogen is given out through the skin and lungs, without being 
applied to any use in the animal economy." This last observation of 
Liebig seems to me supported by no evidence ; nor can I for one moment 
admit, that nature would allow nitrogen to be incessantly passing through 
the various tissues of the body by means of the stomach and lungs, without 
answering some useful purpose. It is possible, therefore, that additional 
nitrogen may be supplied to the system by means of mastication and in- 
salivation, when the food does not contain a sufficient quantity. Dr. Prout 
remarks : " This involution of azote may be considered as one of the great 
objects of mastication and insalivation, which are almost peculiar to ani- 
mals chiefly subsisting on saccharine matters." Liebig also appears to 
have changed his opinion on this subject ; he says : " When a chemical 
attraction causes the formation of a compound, it is in regard to tlie chem- 
ically active, or attracting body, quite indifferent whether the atoms which 
it attracts form a group, bound together by their mutual attractions, or are 
Bimply arranged near each other, without being combined. To produce 
the compound, it is only necessary that the attractive force should be more 
powerful than the forces which oppose its manifestation ; that is, the form- 
ation of the new compound. If the attractive force preponderates, the 
attracted elements enter into the new combination : and this, whether they 
have been previously arranged in one, two, or three compound molecules 
or groups, and the result is exactly the same as if the attracting body had 
combined with one group of combined atoms." " The formation of the 
blood-constituents would have equally admitted of explanation, and would 
have been equally well explained, even had the food contained, instead of 
one sulphurized and nitrogenized constituent, two or three compounds, in 
one of which was found the sulphur, in the second the nitrogen, and in the 
third the carbon required to make up the sum of the elements."* 

181. Chemists generally take it for granted, that food is the only means 
by which azote can be added to the blood, and that the animal body has 
no power to convert the non-azotized elements of food into azotized com- 
pounds. Certain physiologists, however, are of a different opinion, and 
believe that there may take place many changes and conversions in the 
mysterious vital laboratory of an animal which cannot be imitated in the un- 
organized laboratory of the chemist. It is probable that all organic struc- 
tures have the power of reducing nutrient substances to the simple elements, 
and of recomposing them, by means of affinities controlled by the vital 
agency. It is not impossible, even, that during the vital process some of 

* Liebig's Researches on the Chemistry of Food, p. 19. 



134 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

the ultimate principles may be both decomposed and generated. This 
appears to be the opinion of Dr. Front, who observes : " My belief is that, 
under certain extraordinary circumstances, the vital agents can form what 
we now consider as elements ; but that, in ordinary, such elements are 
chiefly derived ab externa, in conjunction with the alimentary principles." 
Again ; he states that, " under extraordinary circumstances, the assimilat- 
ing organs may be able to decompose principles which are still considered 
as elementary ; nay, to form azote or carbon." 

182. " It is, therefore, much more safe and philosophically accurate," 
says Sylvester Graham, " for chemists to say what inorganic forms or kinds 
of matter result from a chemical analysis of organic substances, than it is 
for them to state that organic substances are composed of such and such 
chemical elements, or kinds of matter. We know, it is true, that all mar 
terial bodies are composed of that common matter of the world which 
chemistry has distributed into more than fifty elements ; and we know that, 
in manufacturing its various organic substances out of that common mat- 
ter, the vital economy employs more of some of those elements than of 
others. We also know that some of those elements, or forms of matter, 
are much better adapted to the purposes of the living body than others ; 
but we have no right to assume that the vital forces possess no higher 
energies of analysis than are exerted by the chemical agents of the inor- 
ganic world, nor that their principles of combination, in any respect, re- 
semble those of inorganic chemistry. On the contrary, we have reason to 
believe that vitality decomposes all those substances used in its economy 
which chemists call * elements ;' and that in arranging its various organic 
substances and structures, the synthetical operations are very different 
from those of inorganic chemistry. It is, therefore, purely hypothetical to 
assert, that oxygen and carbon and hydrogen aiid azote, and other chemi- 
cal elements, as such, combine, in the vital processes, to form the various 
substances and structures of the organic system."* 

183. It is well known that the vegetable, being supplied with ammonia, 
can form gluten out of what would otherwise have been deposited as 
starch ; and Dr. Prout has distinctly stated, that he has found albumen 
(an azotized principle) in the duodenum, when none was found in the 
stomach ; from which circumstance he concludes, that a highly azotized 
substance may be secreted from the blood, either in the stomach or duode- 
num, or both, for the purpose of being united with the non-azotized con 
stituents of the food, to form a compound- adapted to the nutrition of tha 

♦ Graham's Lectxires on the Science of Human Life. Vol, i., p. 81. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. lo5 

tissues. He also supposes that the portion of blood thus deprived of its 
azote is separated from the general mass of blood by the liver, as one of 
the constituents of the bile ; which secretion, as a whole, is remarkably 
deficient in azote.* 

184. Tiedemann and Gmelin,f ^ as well as other physiologists, believe 
that the secretion of the pancreas adds to the chyme richly azotized animal 
substances, albumen, casein, and osmazone ; by which it is brought nearer 
to the chemical composition of the blood, and prepared for its complete 
assimilation to it. Thus is a portion of nitrogen supplied to such aliment- 
ary matter as was originally destitute of it. Hence the large size of the 
pancreas, and the more copious secretion of the pancreatic fluid in herbivor- 
ous than carnivorous animals ; hence the change that is said to be pro- 
duced in the size of this organ by a long-continued change in the habits of 
the animal ; hence, also, its smaller size in the wild-cat, which lives only 
on animal food, than in the domestic cat, which lives partly on animal and 
partly on vegetable food. It would seem, therefore, that the pancreas is a 
compensating organ, the function of which is to maintain a due balance of 
protein in the chyle, into which the chyme of the stomach is converted iu 
the duodenum ; and it is not improbable that the spleen exercises a similar 
office for the chyle, in its further progress. Miiller thinks it probable that 
the spleen secretes lymph of a peculiar nature, which, being mixed with 
the contents of the lymphatic and lacteal system coming from other parts, 
tends to perfect the formation of the chyle. A large amount of fat, and a 
small quantity of fibrin, are found in the lacteals previously to their pass- 

* " Long and repeated attention to the functions of the liver, both in health and disease, 
have satisfied me that this organ, in its assimilating functions, is analogous to, or identical 
with, the assimilative functions of vegetables; that the liver represents, in short, the original 
vegetative system, on v^hich, in animals, the animal system is, as it were, superimposed." — 
Dr. Proct. 

t MM. Bouchardat and Sandras conclude, from a variety of experiments, that the pan- 
creas secretes the principle diastase for the purpose of dissolving the food of animals living 
on feculent or starchy substances, and the experiments of M. Lassaigne seem to confirm this 
opinion. It appears, however, from the more recent researches of Dr. Charles Bernard, tliat 
the special action of the pancreatic juice is on fatty matters ; he regards it as indispensable 
for their absorption and for the formation of chyle. By a careful comparison of the experi- 
ments made by the parties just mentioned, and by MM Mialhe, H. Meckel, Matteucci 
Majendie, Andral, and others, we arrive at the following conclusions : Cellulose and amy- 
laceous or starchy elements generally, are converted by the saliva into dextrine and 
glucose; albuminous matters are assimilated by means of the gastric juice; the glucose, or 
grape-sugar, is changed by the bile into fatty matter, and the pancreatic fluid converts the 
fatty or oleaginous products into chyle, which is absorbed by the lacteals. That the oleagi- 
nous principle may be converted into most, if not all the matters necessary for the existence 
of animal bodies, seems to be proved by the well-known fact, that the life of an animal may 
bo prolonged by the appropriation of the fat and other matters contained within its own body, 



136 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

ing through the glands of the mesentery, and to their receiving the lymph 
from the spleen ; after which the proportions are reversed. It appears, 
therefore, that the oleaginous principles of food are gradually converted 
into azotized principles, and that the fluid of the splenic lymphatics assists 
in effecting this change. Thus it would seem, that when in any circum- 
stances the food of an animal does not contain the proportion of chemical 
elements proper for forming the blood, provision is made, in its complicated 
structure, for supplying what is deficient. The fact that blood coutaius 
more nitrogen than chyle, as proved by the experiments of Macaire and 
Marcet, further confirms these views. Whether the azote resulting from 
the decomposed tissues be susceptible of being again employed, when the 
supply by other means is insufiicient, we have not the means of determining ; 
but it is not unreasonable to conjecture that such may be the case. 

[Note 17. It is very common for physiologists to affirm that animal fat, 
or oil, is highly nutritive ; some authors using the term " preeminentlgnu- 
tritious.'' But there is abundant evidence to show that its nutritive value 
is extremely small. Animals fed on it exclusively become plump and 
embonpoint, yet soon die ! Fat men do not endure hard labor, severe cold, 
nor long abstinence, as well as others ; and the respiratory function is 
always of diminished capacity in fat persons. It is very true that the 
organic economy can manufacture all the oleaginous or adipose material the 
system requires out of the elements of ordinary food ; hence there is no 
necessity for taking into the stomach those elements alre-ady formed into 
fat or oil. T.] 

185. The air we breathe is the next possible source of nitrogen. This 
substance is not a chemical compound, but a mechanical mixture, princi- 
pally of two gases — oxygen and nitrogen, in the proportion of 23 parts of 
the former to 76 of the latter. The important agency of the oxygen in 
reference to the blood, and the mode of its action, have already been 
pointed out, (172 ;) but what becomes of the nitrogen ? Does it answer 
no useful purpose in the animal economy? Is it, as some suppose, merely 
a diluent for the oxygen ? Has nature, then, produced a gas nearly equal 
to four times the amount of the oxygen, for the simple purpose of mode- 
rating its effect on respiration, and of checking the progress of vitality ? 
The supposition is unworthy of the wisdom exhibited to our view in every 
department of nature, where we invariably find two or three purposes 
accomplished by one arrangement. 



BEST FOOD OP MAN. 137 

'* In human works, though labored on with pain, 
A thousaud movements scarce one purpose gain ; 
In God's, one single can its end produce, 
Yet serves to second too some other use."* 

186. It needs, therefore, but little experimental evidence to prove, tliat 
this nitrogen of the atmoephere fulfils some great design of the Creator ; 
and, among others, that of supplying this element to the animal system, 
when not derivable in sufficient abundance from other sources. 

187. Experiment shows, that there is a continual absorption of nitrogen 
by the blood ; and as continual an exhalation of it. Sometimes the quan- 
tity absorbed exceeds the quantity exhaled ; in which case the excess must 
have been, by some means, appropriated in the system ; and if a chemical 
union takes place, in the capillaries, between the oxygen conveyed by the 
blood-globules and the carbon of the decomposed tissues ; and if a part 
of the oxygen enters into chemical union with the blood, as is generally 
admitted, there is no reason why the nitrogen absorbed by the blood should 
not, in the same locality, enter into combination with the other elements of 
the blood, if an additional quantity of it be required. 

188. The weak affinity existing between nitrogen and the other elements, 
even at high temperatures, seems the principal objection to the belief, that 
this gas can be appropriated in the human system. But it is a known 
property of nitrogen, that when it meets with hydrogen in a nascent state, 
within an enclosed space, it readily unites with the latter, and forms am- 
monia ; and as hydrogen is developed, not only in the whole extent of the 
alimentary canal, but also in the capillaries, where the disintegration of 
the worn-out tissues takes place, we have all the conditions necessary for 
the combination of nitrogen with the other elements of protein. JFrom 
the researches of MM. Bouchardat and Sandras it appears, that the 
digestion and absorption of albuminous matters take place exclusively in 
the stomach by the veins ; and although the solution of fecula, or starch, 
also occurs in the stomach, its absorption takes place there less exclusively ; 
which fact accords with the special disposition and length of the intestines 
of animals not carnivorous. Majendie found little hydrogen in the stomach 
one hour after food had been taken, and none at the end of two hours ; 
whereas, in the small intestines, upwards of fifty per cent, of this gas was 
found ; but at the expiration of four hours, only eight per cent. It is 
probable, therefore, that much of this element enters into combination with 
nitogen in this locality, when the food consists principally of non-azotized 
principles.f 

* Essay on Man, Epls, I., L. 53. 

t Vide Liebig's Animal Chemistry, p. 825. 



138 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

189. Dr. Proiit thinks the azote of the tissues may, in some instances, 
be derived from the air ; and Sir Humphry Davy states that, in his experi- 
ments, an absorption of nitrogen took place during respiration, to the 
amount of 1-1 7th of the volume of the oxygen which disappeared from 
the atmosphere ; so that, in twenty-four hours, the quantity of nitrogen 
absorbed was as much as 2246 grains. Professor Pfafif, also, observed a 
diminution in the quantity of the nitrogen ; and estimated it at from 
l-107th to l-80th of the volume of the air inspired. 

190. Priestly, Cuvier, Dr. Henderson, Edwards, and others, obtained 
similar results ; but Allen and Pepys, Berthollet, Jurine, Nysten, Dulong, 
and Despretz, detected an increase of nitrogen. "Allen and Pepys ascer- 
tained, that when guineas-pigs were made to breathe in a mixture of hydro- 
gen and oxygen, nitrogen was exhaled, and in a quantity exceeding the 
volume of the whole body of the animal, which shows that it could not be 
derived from the air previously contained in the lungs."* 

191. Dr. Bostock observes, that it is probable the blood, as it passes 
through the lungs, both absorbs and exhales nitrogen ; the proportion 
which these operations bear to each other being very variable, and depend- 
ing upon certain states of the system, or upon the operation of external 
agents. The discrepancy in the results obtained by different experimenters 
upon this point, is also explained by M. Edwards in a similar way. He 
supposes that in certain circumstances, the ahsorption of nitrogen is most 
active ; in others, the exhalation. These circumstances are probably de- 
pendent on the condition of the blood with respect to this necessary ele- 
ment ; the absorption being greatest when the food and the alimentary 
organs have not supplied it in sufficient quantity for the requirements of the 
system. Absorption and exhalation of this gas seem also to take place 
by the skin ; and Dr. Pereira has suggested, that the ammonia of the 
atmosphere may furnish nitrogen to the system ; but there has been no 
experimental proof of this. The evidence already adduced is so much in 
favor of the opinion that the nitrogen contained in the tissues of man and 
the Herbivora may be obtained independently of food, that there is 
scarcely any room for doubt upon the subject ; it may be considered an 
established fact, and in our investigations respecting human diet, it is of 
great importance that we should never lose sight of it. 

192. That nitrogen in food is, to a certain extent, unnecessary to tlie 
support of man, we may infer from various well-authenticated facts. 
Adansou asserts, that the Nomadic Moors have scarcely any other food 

* MuUer's Elements of Physiology, Yol I. p. 82T. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 139 

than gum Senegal. Hasselqiiist relates, that a caravan of Abyssinians, 
consisting of one thousand persons, subsisted for two months on a stock of 
gu:n arabic alone, which they found among their merchandise. Those who 
gather gum from the trees in Arabia and Senegal, live, for a time, almost 
entirely upon it ; and six ounces in twenty-four hours have proved sufiBcient 
for a man's support. Humboldt informs us, that he has frequently observed 
the mule-drivers who carried his luggage on the coast of Caraccas, giving 
the preference to unprepared sugar over fresh animal food ; and it is well 
known that negroes, and individuals otherwise imperfectly fed, soon become 
fat and vigorous from masticating the sugar-cane. Now, gum and sugar 
contain little or no nitrogen. Potatoes and rice, also, are universally 
acknowledged to be far from the bottom of the nutritive scale ; and yet 
the quantity of nitrogen present in them is extremely insignificant, com- 
pared with the amount in even the inferior qualities of wheat. " Maize is 
said to contain no gluten, and little, if any, ready-formed saccharine mat- 
ter ; whence it has been asserted to have but a very small nutritive power : 
on the other hand, it is seen that domestic animals which are fed with it 
very speedily become fat ; their flesh being at the same time remarkably 
firm. Horses which consume this corn are enabled to perform their full por- 
tion of labor, are exceedingly hardy, and require but little care ; and the 
common people of countries where Indian corn forms the ordinary food, 
are for the most part strong and hardy races.*'* (492, &c.)f If nitrogen, 
tlierefore, be necessary for the renewal of the tissues, it is evident that, in 
these instances, it must be supplied by one of the processes just mentioned, 
and not by the food. 

193. But granting nitrogen to be a necessary element in human food, it 
is no difficult matter, since the late discoveries in organic chemistry, to prove 
that fruit, roots, grain, and all succulent vegetables, contain it in sufficient 
abundance. Boussingault and Payen, as well as other chemists, have 
ascertained that nitrogen is present in all parts of vegetables, particularly 
the seeds, juices, and nascent parts ; the membranes being the only portions 
from which this principle is excluded. 

194. Indeed, it is now no longer doubtful that all nutritive substances, 
whether of an animal or vegetable nature, contain a certain proportion of 
both the azotized and non-azotized principles ; otherwise denominated the 
" glutinous" or " albuminous," and the " saccharine" or " saccharifial.Mo" 

* Library of Entertaining Knowledge, "Vegetable Substances used for the Food of Man," 
p. 101. 

t Boussingault, Playfair, and Dr. E. D. Thomson, state the nitrogenized products contained 
In maize meal at 11 per cent 



140 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

principles. Both these are necessary to the saccharine or acetic fermenta- 
tion which takes place in the stomach during the process of digestion ; 
and all substances on which animals subsist may be proved, by chemical 
analysis, to contain these two principles, though in very different propor- 
tions ; some containing an excess of the albuminous, and others of the 
saccharine principle. Dr. Prout has shown that milk, upon which the 
young of all the Mammalia feed, contains a considerable portion of an 
albuminous substance, (casein,) which forms its curd ; a great quantity of 
oily matter, the butter ; and no inconsiderable amount of sugar ; thus 
including his three staminal principles. 

195. The food of the Carnivora consists ahnost entirely of the com- 
pounds of protein ; consequently, the carbon necessary for uniting with 
oxygen, in order to produce caloric, must be principally derived from the 
decomposition of the tissues ; and, as the exercise of the vital functions 
is the only means by which the tissues can be decomposed, it is absolutely 
necessary that the Carnivora should take an enormous amount of muscu- 
lar exercise, to furnish the requisite amount of carbon. Probably, how- 
ever, so abundant a production of caloric is not so necessary to support 
animal heat in the Carnivora, as in the Herbivora and Frugivora ; in con- 
sequence of the absence of perspiratory pores in the former, which prevents 
their cooling too rapidly. 

196. The food of the Herbivora contains only such an amount of the 
compounds of protein as is sufficient to restore the waste of the tissues ; 
and the carbon necessary for respiration is supplied by the starch, sugar, 
oil, &c., which form the greater portion of their food ; the abundance of 
their perspiratory pores allowing the surplus of caloric to escape :* con- 
sequently, a much less amount of muscular exertion is necessarily required 
of them ; though they are not on that account less capable of taking it, if 
requisite, as will be shown hereafter. In all articles used as food, and not 
artificially prepared, nature has combined not only the azotized and non- 
azotizcd principles, but also a certain amount of nutriment, with a large 
quantity of innutritious matter ; and the latter is as necessary for healthy" 
digestion as the former. 

* The experiments of MM. Becquerel and Breschet seem at variance with the generally 
received opinion, that the animal heat is increased by the closing of the pores. The hair of 
rabbits was shaved off, and a composition of glue, suet, and resin, (forming a coating through 
which air could not pass,) was applied over the whole surface ; when, instead of the temper- 
ature being increased, it was considerably reduced ; and one of the animals died in conse- 
quence. Abundant evidence however may be adduced to prove that, in man, the cleaner 
the skin is kept, the more clothing, external heat, or muscular exercise, he requires to main- 
tain his proper temperature.i8 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 141 

* [Note 18. I think there may be an error here. Certainly my ex- 
perience and observation do not correspond with the statement. Many 
persons, I am aware, are in the habit of keeping their skins very clean 
by the frequent employment of vapor, warm or hot baths ; a practice 
which tends to relax the system generally, and weaken the cutaneous func- 
tion in particular, and thus render them more susceptible to the influence 
of cold. But those who practise cold bathing habitually and judiciously, 
and take warm or hot baths only occasionally, find the functional power 
of the skin so invigorated that they can bear cold better than those who 
keep unclean skins. T.] 

197. The various kinds of flesh-meat (as beef, mutton, &c.) contain about 
25 per cent, of nutritious matter ; while rice, wheat, peas, and beans, afford 
fi-om 82 to 92 per cent. Even potatoes, which are considered by many as 
a very innutritions kind of food, contain about 28 per cent of nutriment. 
(Appendix, Table B.) According to these estimates, one pound of bread, 
oatmeal, rice, or sago, contains more nutritious matter than three pounds 
of flesh, and a pound of potatoes as much as a pound of beef. These pro- 
portions of nutriment, however, though pretty accurately ascertained by 
chemists, are not to be depended upon as representing the correct ratio 
in which these various kinds of food support the human body ; since much 
is said to depend upon the proportion of azotized and non-azotized princi- 
ples in the aliments. Rice and potatoes, for instance, although containing 
a considerable quantity of nutritious matter, possess but little of an azotized 
principle, (from 2 to 8 per cent, of gluten ;) and, therefore, are commonly 
deemed weak articles of diet : practical experience, however, contradicts 
this. (192, 492, &c.) ^ 

198. Nor are those articles which contain the greatest amount of pro- 
tein the most nutritious and best for man ; it having been proved that 
leguminous seeds, (such as peas and beans,) though containing more nitro- 
gen than the cereal grains, are less nutritive. Liebig attributes this to 
their being deficient of the earthy phosphates ; but numerous considera- 
tioni lead us to infer that this cannot be the only cause. According to 
Braconnot, peas (Pisum Sativum) contain 9.26 grains of earthy phosphates 
in one ounce, which is about twice the quantity found in French beans or 
wheat, and twenty-four times the amount found m the same weight of beef. 

199. On a careful consideration, therefore, of the compound aliments 
and their eflects, we may very safely affirm that there is something more 
essential to nutrition than a mere mixture of what we regard as the 
mos5t important alimentary principles of food. Wheat is acknowledged to 



142 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

contain a considerable amount of gluten or vegetable albumen, and its 
fitness for human food has acquired for it the appellation of " the staff of 
life." " Grain and other nutritious vegetables yield us," says Liebig, " not 
only (in starch, sugar, and gum) the carbon which protects our organs 
from the action of oxygen and produces in the organism the heat which is 
essential to life, but also (in the form of vegetable fibrin, albumen, and 
casein) our blood, from which the other parts of our body are developed." 

200. Notwithstanding the abundant proofs lately afforded by chemistry | 
that vegetables contain all the elements necessary for nutrition, it has been | 
stoutly asserted that their principles are very different from the fibrin, | 
albumen, and casein of animal food, and that only the latter are calculated 1 
to form muscle and impart strength to the human frame. But the experi- j 
ments of Liebig and other excellent chemists have established, beyond the 
possibility of a doubt, the perfect identity of animal and vegetable fibrin, ; 
animal and vegetable albumen, and animal and vegetable casein ; each i 
containing precisely the same amount of the azotized principle, protein, i 
As to the starch and other saccharine matters which are found so abun- 1 
dantly in farinaceous vegetables, it is the opinion of Prout and Liebig i 
that in the digestive process they are convertible into the oleaginous 
principles by the extraction of oxygen,^ of which the former contain a 
much greater quantity than the latter. Thus the empirical formula of 
starch is 0'^ H''', 0'" ; which, by the loss of one equivalent of carbonic 
acid (C 0^) and seven equivalents of oxygen, (0"^,) is converted into C'\ • 
H'^, 0, the empirical formula of fat. Or the starch may be changed by < 
vital chemistry into four equivalents of carbonic acid, (0*, 0^,) four equi- ' 
valents of olefiant gas, (C^, H^,) and two equivalents of water, (H^, 0^.) ; 
Or, if we admit that the nitrogen of the atmosphere combines, in tlie 
digestive process, with the elements of food, — of which there can be little , 
doubt, (185,) — then four equivalents of starch may be converted into one I 
equivalent of protein (C-^^, H^^ N^, 0^"^) and four of water, with a sepa- ; 
ration of oxygen. Thus, under a full vegetable diet, (in which starch j 
abounds,) a sedentary life — especially if the pores of the skin are not kept 
open by frequent ablutions — will generally conduce to the formation of 
fat ; but if abundant oxygen and nitrogen be supplied by exercise, a loss 
amount of oxygen is then requisite from the food, and the chyle — which 
might, in other circumstances, have produced fat — may now be converted 
into fibrin to supply the waste of tissue arising from muscular exertior-. 

201. Here then is manifest a ray of that divine wisdom which shines .-o 
gloriously in every department of nature, v/hen carefully investigated. We 

♦ See note at §184. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 143 

need no longer regard the nitrogen, which constitutes four-fifths of the 
atmosphere, as an inert and useless gas ; but, like oxygen, as an important 
ind essential aliment for the support of animal life. The two gases are 
beld in a weak combination, or mechanical mixture, in order that each may 
in its turn, as circumstances require, subserve the interests of vitality. 
If animals were so constituted as to render necessary a precise amount of 
any element in the food to which their instincts direct them, and if their 
organs were so limited in their functions as to be incapable of fulfilling any 
other duty but that for which they were specially intended, then would life 
be subject to continual interruption ; and disease and death would spread 
ruin and devastation in every direction. Neither men nor the lower 
animals are at all times so situated as to be able to procure, in sufficient 
quantity, that food which contains all the elements in the precise propor- 
tion and mode of combination best suited to their organization; the 
atmosphere, therefore, presents an immense reservoir, always at hand to 
make up deficiencies by means of mastication or respiration ; and the 
digestive, chylopoietec, and secerning organs are endowed with such capa- 
bilities as to vary, within certain bounds, their proper functions, and to 
seize with unerring precision those elements of the atmospheric air of 
which the ingesta and circulating fluids are deficient. 

202. These views are applicable to man living on a natural or vegetable 
diet as follows. In warm climates, where an elevated temperature is 
incompatible with great muscular exertion, nature has provided a bountiful 
and pleasant repast of fruit, rice, and other vegetables possessing a consider- 
able proportion of carbon and hydrogen, and little nitrogen. By virtue of 
affinities modified by vital agency, these nutritive substances are formed (in 
the stomach, duodenum, &c.,) into new compounds by a rearrangement of 
their elements and by a combination with those of the atmosphere ; thus 
producing either protein or fat as the wants of the system may determine. 
If the tissues are wasted by exercise, more oxygen and nitrogen are 
supplied by the atmosphere, so as to prevent the formation of oleaginous 
compounds ; and the albuminous principles that result are converted into 
fibrin to renovate tHe system ; but if the occupations are sedentary, less 
fibrin is necessary ; the deficient supply of air causes more oxygen to be 
separated from the food ; and an increase of fat is the consequence, espe- 
cially if the food be in excess. If a more azotized diet be indulged in, 
then — as there is less occasion for the formation of protein from the 
starch — the carbonaceous compounds must be eliminated by the skin, liver, 
and lungs ; but, as the cutaneous surface, especially of the white variety 
of mankind, is not constituted for performing the additional duty now 



144 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

demanded of it, and as in these circmnstances there is a deficient supply 
of oxygen to the lungs, carbon accumulates in the blood ; and the liver is ; 
called into an excessive exercise of its function in consequence of the 
inactivity of the skin and lungs. Hence the prevalence of hepatic diseases 
in hot climates. 

203. In cold and temperate regions, wheat and other azotized products 
may be more freely indulged in, and the carbonaceous principles of food 
are then left at liberty for the respiratory function ; muscular exercise ~ 
becomes more easy and pleasant, and caloric is more abundantly formed. ' 
The inhabitants of these countries are more exposed to diseases of the 
chest and that numerous train of distressing complamts arising from the 
presence of an abnormal proportion of lithic acid in the system ; such as ' 
gout, rheumatism, gravel, &c.^^ The extreme indulgence in animal food, 
in these countries, becomes the predisposing cause of all these diseases, as 
well as of dyspepsia and liver-complaints. (313.) If flesh or other highly ! 
azotized food be taken with a very small proportion of starchy matter, the 
sufferings of the dyspeptic are alleviated, as every medical practitioner is 
aware ; because there is then less carbon for the liver to separate ; but : 
this diet demands more exercise from the lungs in consequence of the 
diminished supply of oxygen from the food ; hence its danger to persons ' 
who are threatened with phthisis, (256, 362, and 463,) as well as to gouty 
individuals, from its favoring the production of lithic acid. (316.) If the 
dyspeptic were entirely to abandon the use of animal food and adopt a diet 
of fruit and farmacea, not only would the disease be palliated as by the 
above treatment, but, in the generality of cases, entirely cured, without 
throwing an additional burden upon either the lungs or kidneys; the 
former having their labor remitted by the disengagement of oxygen from 
the food durmg the conversion of starch into protein; and the latter 
having less duty to perform in consequence of the diminished supply of 
substances containing protein ready formed. There is, therefore, no real 
contradiction in stating, that while a diet of lean animal food and bread, 
or a very sparing supply of vegetables, greatly relieves the dyspeptic, an 
exclusively vegetable diet is stiU more efficacious. (357.) Under the 
former, no greater quantity of the non-azotized principles is received than 
is necessary for the supply of the respiratory process and for the produc- 
tion of animal heat ; the flesh yielding the requisite amount of albumen 
for the repair of the fabric. If the proportion of vegetable food be 
considerably increased, the nutrient matter will be in excess ; and, conse- 
quently, the blood may become surcharged with carbon or nitrogenized 
principles, the former stimulatmg the liver, the latter the kidneys. Under 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. • US 

the exclusively vegetable diet, the non-azotized principles unite with the 
nitrogen of the atmosphereto supply the protein which is deficient in 
the food, thus provcutiug too great an accumiilation of carbon ; but in 
proportion as animal food is superadded, this conversion becomes unneces- 
sary, and the surplus must be disposed of by other means ; being trans- 
muted either into fat or non-vitalized albumen ; and thereby giving rise 
to hepatic complaints, scrofala, tubercules, gout, and other diseases. 

[Note 19. The general employment of impure or hard water is, doubt- 
less, prominent among the causes of calculous or gravelly affections. A 
large proportion of the people of this country pay very little attention to 
the quality of the water they drink, provided it be cool and transparent. 
Since the introduction of Croton water into New York, calculous affections 
have rapidly decreased, whilst in South Brooklyn, where much of the 
water is very hard and impure, these affections, and also diseases of the 
kidneys, are comparatively common. T.] 

204. Some have contended that a mixture of animal and vegetable 
food iu certain proportions contains, within the least possible weight, all 
the chemical principles requisite for supplying the waste of structure, and 
for the production of animal heat ; and that neither animal nor vegetable 
food, taken separately, answers the purpose so well, unless in much larger 
quantities. Presuming that a man taking moderate exercise requires 
eighteen ounces of starch and five ounces of albumen or gluten, &c., iu 
twenty-four hours, Mr. Johnston* calculates that these will be best supplied 
by one and three-quarter pounds of bread, and half a pound of animal food. 
Thus: 

For Respiration. Vor Waste of Muscle. 

1^ lbs. of Bread, yielding 18 oz. of Starch, and 8 oz. of Gluten. 
^ lb. of Bee^ " " 2 oz. of Fibrin. 

Total consumed by Eespiration and the ordinary Waste, 18 oz. Starch, and 5 oz. of Gluten 
and Fibrin.20 

[Note 20. I think the argument above alluded to is completely refated 
by the fact, now acknowledged by all the chemists, that all nutriment is 
formed by vegetables; animals having the power to appropriate almost 
every thing that is nutritious, but not to create any thing. T.] 

205. This calculation is based on the supposition that wheat-flour con- 
tains 15 per cent, of dry gluten ; and as Mr. J. says, 1| lbs. (or 28 oz.) of 
bread contain 3 oz. of gluten, the same as 20 oz. of flour, we learn that he 
considers 20 oz. of flour to make 28 oz. of bread. But in a previous table 

* James T. "W. Johnston's Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology. 



146 BESTFOODOF MAN. 

(page 229) he informs us that 15,000 lbs. of wheat contain 825 lbs. of starch, 
315 lbs. of dry gluten, and 60 lbs. of sugar. Now, divide each of tbcsa 
numbers by 15, and we find that flour contains 21 per cent, of gluten, and 
about 60 per cent, of starch and sugar. With this correction we have : 

15 lbs. of Bread = 20 oz. of 'Wheat-T'lour, yielding 12 oz. Starch, and 4 1-5 oz. of Gluten. 
i lb. Beef, yielding 2 oz. of Fibrin. 
Total.— 12 oz Starch, and 6 1-5 oz. of Gluten and Fibrin. 

206. There now appears a deficiency of 6 oz. of starch, and a surplus 
of 1^ oz. of gluten, when bread and beef are taken. Again : 2 lbs. of 
bread yield 13 f oz. of starch, and 4| oz. of gluten ; leaving a deficiency of 
only 4f oz. of starch, to be suppplied by potatoes, rice, &c., and ^ of au 
oz. of gluten ; so that from Mr. J.'s own data, 2^ lbs. of beef and bread do 
not supply the required amount of starch and albumen, so well as two lbs. 
of bread ; and this is precisely the weight of bread that has been found 
practically sufficient for a man taking ordinary exercise. Yogel says, 
wheat-bread contains 53.5 per cent, of starch ; consequently, 2 lbs. will 
contain 17/o oz. of starch, only /^ of an oz. short of the requisite quantity. 
" Good wheaten bread," observes Dr. Carpenter, " contains more nearly 
than any substance in ordinary use, the proportion of azotized and non- 
azotized matter which is adapted to repair the waste of the system, and 
to supply the wants of combustible material, under the ordinary con- 
ditions of civilized life in temperate climates ; and we find that health and 
strength can be more perfectly sustained upon that substance than upon 
any other taken alone." 

207. Organic chemistry, however, has not yet been brought to such 
perfection as will enable us to mete out man's food by its laws. We have 
yet much to learn in this respect, and a short notice of the subject is 
introduced here only to show that from the vegetable kingdom may be 
selected, for human food, such articles as will bear a comparison with a 
mixed diet, so far as our present knowledge will permit us to judge, and 
that the light already thrown upon the matter by chemistry is sufficient 
to prove that fruits, grain, roots, and other esculent vegetables, if used in 
a natural, unrefined, and unconcentrated state, contain every principle 
necessary for the nourishment of man. 

208. Various substances may contain all the principles necessary to 
complete nutrition, and yet be either partially or totally indigestible, 
arising from a deficiency of relation between those substances and the 
organs of assimilation. Thus grass may be indigestible in the stomach of 
a lion, while to the ox it proves a wholesome and nutritious aliment. The 
organs of digestion in man, also, are subject to determinate physical laws ; 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 147 

bat being of an intermediate character (as has been previously shown, 15) 
belvreen the carnivorous and herbivorous animals, their functions admit of 
a wider range ; and though not so perfectly adapted to the digestion of 
flesh as the assimilating organs of the tiger, nor formed with so direct 
a relation to herbaceous matter as those of the sheep or the ox, habit will 
enable man to subsist, with tolerable health, upon certain kinds of either, 
or a mixture of both. But it has been shown (80, &c.) that the appro- 
priate food of man is fruit, roots, and grain ; and these not only admit of 
the easiest solution in the human stomach, but also create the least incon- 
venience through the whole of the alimentary canal, produce the healthiest 
chyle and purest blood. I am aware that some persons have questioned 
the fact of vegetable food being so easily digested in the human stomach, 
and have instanced various functional disarrangements from the eating of 
fruit, &c. Dr. Cullen said he had known portions of apple eructated^ 
without alteration, two days after they had been swallowed, and such cases 
undoubtedly occui' ; yet Dr. Beaumont found that apples arc easily digested 
in the stomach, requiring only about an hour and a half for the purpose. 

[iSToTE 21. It is an every-day occurrence for patients, on first entering a 
Water-Cure institution, to find almost every thing eatable disagree with their 
stomachs, especially fruits and the cruder vegetables, as turnips, cabbage, 
&c. But the great majority soon find these articles not only to agree, but to 
feel pleasant and prove salutary. When simple, plain, coarse vegetable or 
farinaceous food, or ordinary fruit, seems to disagree with the stomach, the 
fact is proof positive that the stomach is in an abnormal condition. T.] 

209. Yarious causes may be assigned for the indigestion of such arti- 
cles of diet. I shall only mention what I consider to be the three princi- 
pal : 1. The habit of indulging in a totally difierent kind of food ; for it is 
proved that the change from a bad or inferior kind of diet to a better or 
more natural one, often causes temporary inconvenience, if this change do 
not take place by degrees ; because, by a wise economy of nature, the 
gastric juice is always secreted of such a character as is best adapted to 
the solution of the food we habitually feed upon ; (82 :) indulgence in any 
unusual kind of diet, therefore, may sometimes disorder the stomach, even 
though the food be more natural than what, from habit, is said to 
agree better with the stomach. Kittens, (as previously mentioned, 104,) 
when brought up on vegetable diet only, have been rendered sick when 
made to eat flesh, the food designed for them by nature. Hence we see 
the necessity of making all great changes in diet with caution, and by 



148 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

degrees ; that the gastric juice and other secretions may be gradually 
adapted to the new circumstances. 

210. 2. Most people, in this country, eat their fruit at the most objec- 
tionable time possible ; namely, after a full meal of animal food, and a host 
of other incongruous mixtures. When the stomach has been already 
gorged with a variety of fish, flesh, and fowl, with rich sauces, condiments, 
and vegetables, need there be any surprise that the vegetable pectin and 
acids of fruits should create disturbance in the stomach and alimentary 
canal ? Surely every thinking man would expect such a result. But the 
whole blame is laid upon the fruit, instead of being attributed to the pro- 
per cause — the injudicious mixture of ingredients. 

211. 3. The third cause of indigestion from fruit, is imperfect mastica- 
tion and insalivation. It was shown (62, 63) that neither the cheek-teeth 
nor the under jaw of carnivorous animals is formed for mastication ; nor 
are their salivary glands large, or the secretions from them copious. These 
animals, therefore, tear their food, and swallow it without chewing ; and if 
man would be carnivorous too, let him follow their example, and save his 
teeth. But fruit and other vegetable food is so far different from flesh, 
that it requires careful mastication, and mixture with saliva, previously to 
deglutition ; otherwise it may remain long in the stomach before the gas- 
tric juice can effect its complete solution. The character of the molar 
teeth in man and herbivorous animals proves that nature intended fruits 
and vegetable food to undergo these processes ; but if these substances be 
received into the stomach without previous preparation, along with seeds, 
flakes of integument, &c., they will excite a rapid motion of the stomach, 
(as shown by the experiments of Schultz,) and will be propelled into the 
duodenum before the necessary changes have been effected. Vegetable 
matters thus hurried into the small intestines, create considerable disturb- 
ance, which is often referred to the acidity of the fruit. Having under- 
gone little or no change in the stomach, the duodenal changes are necessa- 
rily imperfect ; hence the development of gases, increased secretion from 
the alimentary tunics, and spasms. But the experiments of Dr. Beaumont 
and of others prove, that when fruits, roots, and farinaceous substances have 
been well masticated and mixed with saliva, they are easily digested in the 
healthy human stomach, and answer all the purposes of complete nutrition.* 



* Perfect health is only consistent with a due performance of all the functions ; to secure 
which, each organ should have its full share of duty assigned it, in order that its normal 
power and energy may be preserved. It is universally admitted that any organ may be 
weakened by excess of labor, and its powers may be debilitated by a superabundance of duty 
requiring constant action but little energy. The muscular j^ower of the giant may bo 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 149 



212. A short statement of facts from Dr. Beaumont's Tables will con- 
firm these remarks. He informs ns that the following articles were con- 
verted into chyme, or digested, in the times mentioned : 

Eice, boiled soft .... 10 

Apples, sweet and ripe 1 30 

Sago, boiled 1 45 

Tapioca, Barley, stale Bread, Cabbage, with Vinegar, raw, boiled Milk and 

Bread and Milk, cold 2 

Potatoes, roasted ; and Parsnips, boiled 2 30 

Baked Custard 2 45 

Apple Dumpling 8 

Bread-corn, baked ; and Carrots, boiled 3 15 

Potatoes and Turnips, boiled; Butter and Cheese, 8 30 

Tripe and Pig's Feet 10 

Venison, broiled 1 35 

Codfish, boiled ; and Eggs, raw 2 

Turkey, Goose, and Lamb 2 30 

Eggs, soft-boiled ; Beef and Mutton, roasted or boiled ; and Oysters, raw , 3 

Boiled Pork ; stewed Oysters, Eggs, hard-boiled or fried 8 30 

Domestic Fowls and Ducks, roasted 4 

"Wild Fowls; Pork, salted and boiled; Suet 4 80 

Veal, roasted ; Pork, and salted Beef 5 30 

Our second question (177) is, I think, now sufficiently answered ; it being 
demonstrated, upon the strictest chemical principles, that vegetables do 
possess the elements and qualities necessary for renewing the decomposed 
tissues of the body. 

EXPERIMEXTS OF MAJENDIE AND OTHEKS. 

213. How is it, then, that we hear of the failure of various attempts to 
support life upon a simple and nou-azotized diet? The experiments of 
Majendie, Burdach, Tiedemann and Gmelin, Dr. Stark, and others, are any 
thing but satisfactory upon this point ; although they are, in most physio- 
logical and dietetic works, adduced as complete proofs of the necessity for 
azotized food, variety in diet, and (more especially) for the mixture of ani- 

enfeebled by incessant employment in actions requiring only the force or muscnlar capabili- 
ties of the child. So it is with the stamach; highly elaborated substances are chosen, and 
additionally semi-digested in cooking, in order to spare nature the trouble of putting forth 
her vital energies. She does not, therefore, labor where nothing is given her to work upon ; 
but the organism which she would have employed is a sad loser by its insignificant exercise. 
It misses of robustness and steady forcefulness. In manhood, the demands upon it are great, 
but its capacity is exceedingly limited. Nature's simple fare of fruits and grain soon becomes 
altogether unsuited to its weakness ; and at last indigestion, which is but another name for 
the inertness of the digestive organism, inflicts its irremediable disorders upon its impotent 
vlctinL"— Healthian, p. 53. 



160 BEST FOOD OF MAN 

mal and vegetable products in the food of man. Majendie fed dogs upon 
sugar and distilled water ; the consequence was that, in the course of a 
few days, they became diseased ; and died in about a month. He also fed 
some dogs upon olive oil and water, some on gum, and others on butter ; 
and in each of these trials, death took place in the course of four or five 
weeks.* Tiedemanu and Gmelin fed geese, one with sugar and water, 
another with gum and water, and a third with starch and water : they all 
gradually lost weight, and died ijp the course of three weeks or a month. 
None of the substances on v/hich these animals were fed, contained nitrogen : 
the experiments, therefore, are thought by some to demonstrate the neces- 
sity for azotized food. The following experiments show the fallacy of such 
a conclusion. Majendie fed a dog on iclute bread and water ; but it did 
not live more than fifty days, although the gluten with which white bread 
abounds is as highly nitrogenized a product as any of the albuminous 
class of aliments. Tiedemann and Gmelin fed a goose on boiled white of 
eg^, cut into small pieces ; and, notwithstanding that the animal was in 
this case fed on pure albumen, it died on the forty-sixth day. Dogs fed 
on cheese alone, or on hard eggs, lived for a long time, but they became 
feeble and thin, and lost their hair. Animals fed exclusively on gelatine, 
the most highly nitrogenized principle of the food of the Carnivora, die 
with all the symptoms of starvation : in fact, the gelatinous tissues are in- 
capable of conversion into blood.f'-'^ 

[Note 22. All such experiments must appear exceedingly absurd to 
an intelligent physif'iogist, who also understands the philosophy of diet. 
Food is a compound of several proximate principles ; starch, sugar, casein, 
albumen, fibrin, &c., as these are compounds of ultimate elements, carbon, 

* M. 0. Chossat has lately made seventeen experiments on dogs ; and ascertained, that in 
some cases sugar tended to fatten the animal, and in others turned to bile. In the first case 
there was generally a tendency to constipation ; in tlie others, the bowels were relaxed. He 
also observes that milk, as well as snjrar. has a tendency to fatten or to create bile, according 
to the different systems of the persons who nso it cscin&rvcly, or mako it a. principal article 
of food; and that where bile is thus created, diarrhoea ensues, and leads to a M-asfing of tho 
solids. Where tlic digestion is feeble, excess of nutrition, instead of being absorbed generally 
into the system, turns to bile, and causes debility and wasting to a high degree. 

t M Majendie, in the report made by the gelatine committee, infers that as gelatine, albu- 
men, and fibrin, separate or artificially combined, are incapable of permanently nourishing ; 
wliile flesh (which consists of gelatine, albumen, fibrin, fat, salts, &c., combined according to 
the laws of organic nature) suffices, even in small quantities, for complete and prolonged 
nuti-ition, it is the "organic condition" which forms so important an element in the process. 
The same observations will apply to wheat and maize, the gluten of which is said to be the 
only proximate principle capable of supporting life, without being combined with some other 
principle. Gluten, however, may be regarded as a compound principle ; containing some 
traces of fecula, gum, &c. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 161 

oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, &c. Hence, when learned gentlemen " feed" 
dogs, cats, rabbits, geese, or humans on one of the constituents of an ali- 
mentary article, instead of the aliment itself, they do not, in the strict 
sense, give them any food at all. T.] 

214. I might relate many other experiments of the same nature ; but 
these are sufficient to prove that death, in the former instances, was not 
owing to the absence of nitrogen in the food. The death of these and 
other animals experimented on, is clearly attributable to one or both of 
the following causes : 1. The non-adaptability of the articles used as food 
to the structure and secretions of the alimentary organs. 2. The artificial 
and concentrated state of the substances attempted to be used as nutri- 
ment. 

215. When inquiring respecting the natural food of man, I showed that 
the various animals are constructed with an evident adaptation to one kind 
of food, and with a certain range of adaptability to other varieties of diet ; 
but it is evident to any one who will reflect, that the experiments I have 
just mentioned were conducted in direct violation of the physiological 
laws of adaptation ; the carnivorous dog and the herbivorous goose being 
alike fed upon artificially produced, and, to them, totally unnatural sub- 
stances. The results, therefore, might have been predicted, without any 
reference to the chemical character of the articles given them as food. 

216. ''Art alone," says Raspail, " furnishes us with non-nutritive sub- 
stances, which it extracts from vegetables and from animals ; for extraction 
is isolation. Now, when two things derive their qualities from their asso- 
ciation only, then isolation must destroy them. To feed animals with sub- 
stances produced by art, is very frequently to load their stomachs, while 
leaving them to die of hunger." An ass fed by Majendie on dry rice, and 
afterwards on boiled rice, lived only fifteen days ; whereas a cock was fed 
with boiled rice for several months, with no ill consequences ; evidently 
showing, that the very same substance may be insufficient nutriment to one 
animal, while it imparts health and enjoyment to another ; the effects vary- 
ing with the development of the alimentary organs. 

217. But the greatest error in many experiments on the food of animals 
has consisted in the employment of substances too concentrated, or of al> 
stract and isolated principles. " Like the atmospheric air," says Graham, 
" all substances designed for human aliment are composed of certain pro- 
portions of nutritious and innutritions matter ; and the alimentary canal, 
like the lungs, is constituted with determined relations to the constitutional 
nature of alimentary substances in this respect. There is somewhere a 



162 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

point of truth, in the proportions best adapted to the constitution and 
functional powers of the alimentary canal, and the vital vrelfare of the 
whole system ; and so far as we vary from this point of truth, by increas- 
ing or diminishing the proportion of the nutritious to the innutritious mat- 
ter of our food, we do, as a general fact, injure the alimentary canal, and 
through it the whole body. And it is very certain, that too great a pro« 
portion of nutritious matter in our food is little less dangerous to our 
digestive organs, and to the vital interests generally, than too small a pro- 
portion. Every thing in the anatomical structure and physiological powers 
of the alimentary canal clearly and fully demonstrates, that it is constituted 
with wise and determinate relations to natural alimentary substances, com- 
posed of nutritious and innutritious matter. And all experience corrobo- 
rates this demonstration. It is the duty of the alimentary canal to receive 
these substances, at proper times, and in proper quantities, after they have 
been thoroughly masticated and insalivated in the niouth ; and completely 
to dissolve them, or separate their nutritious from their innutritious matter, 
and convert their nutritious matter into chyme ; and present this to the 
absorbing mouths of the lacteals ; and then to remove the fecal or innutri- 
tious residuum from the organic domain." " If, therefore, instead of sup- 
plying the alimentary organs with food composed of due proportions of 
nutritious and innutritious matter, we artificially separate the nutritious from 
the innutritious, and supply the alimentary organs with the concentrated 
nutritious matter only, we shall soon destroy the functional powers of the 
organs, break down the general function of nutrition, and cause atrophy 
and death."* Combe observes, that " farinaceous and other concentrated 
aliments do not afford the requisite stimulus to the muscular fibres of the 
intestine ; because they are in a great measure absorbed, and leave little 
to be thrown out." 

218. Many recorded experiments illustrate these remarks. The dog fed 
by Majendie on white bread and water, died in the course of seven weeks ; 
but another fed by him on brown soldiers' bread (pain de munition) did 
not suffer. When dogs were fed on sugar and water, they died in a month ; 
but if a considerable portion of saw-dust be mixed with the sugar, their 
health will not be affected by it, although they are naturally carnivorous 
animals. It was also shown, that an ass fed on rice died in fifteen days ; 
but if a l^e quantity of chopped straw had been njixed with the rice, he 
would have continued to live and be well. " Horses fed exclusively on 
meal or grain will die in a short time ; but mix their meal or grain with a 
suitable proportion of cut straw or wood-shavings, and they will thrive and 

♦ Graham's Lectures, vol. I., p. 640. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 153 



become fat And it is an interesting fact, that if horses be fed on grain 
alou.;, \rith the exception of water, for a number of days, they will instinct- 
ively gnaw the boards, or whatever woody substance is within their reach." 
I might here give several well-attested anecdotes, in confirmation of vrbat 
has been now stated ; but the two following will be sufficient : 

219. ''About the 1st of December, 1800," says Capt. John Matthews, 
of Maine, " I left Bath, in the schooner Betsey, with a deck-load of covv-s, 
oxen, horses, and one mule. Expecting to have a short passage, I took 
but little hay. When we had been out several days, a gale came on, 
which swept away most of our hay, and drove us so far out of our course, 
that we were fourteen days without hay, before we made the island of 
Bermuda. We had plenty of corn and potatoes on board ; with which 
we fed our stock. After three or four days, the stock all began to be in- 
disposed, and to droop, and to be unwilling to eat the food we gave them ; 
and they seemed to be very uneasy, and to crave something which they 
had not : and the miile began to gnaw a spruce spar which lay before him. 
This suggested to me the thought, that my stock all required more woody 
matter with their food ; and I immediately caused some spruce and oak 
spars to be shaved up with a drawing-knife, and gave the shavings to the 
stock. All the young cattle and horses and the mule ate these shavings 
greedily ; and were very soon improved in their health, and continued to 
do well the remaining part of the voyage. The mule ate them more freely 
than any other animal on board, and he improved most : indeed, he was 
quite plump and sleek when he arrived in port. Some of the older cattle 
and horses would not eat the shavings ; and every one of these died before 
we got in. About the year 1830," continues Capt. Matthews, " returning 
from Bonavista, one of the Cape de Yerd islands, I brought several goats 
with me. Having no hay on board, I fed them on grain and shavings. 
They came every day for their shavings, as regularly as they did for their 
grain ; and ate them as greedily." 

220. These observations on the concentrated nature of food are equally 
applicable to man as to the lower animals. Dr. Stark made many curious 
and whimsical dietetic experiments in his own person ; and fell a sacrifice 
in the prosecution of his inquiries. The proposed object of his experi- 
ments was to prove that a pleasant and varied diet is more conducive to 
health than a simple one ; yet most of the dishes of which he partook 
were neither natural^ simple, nor pleasant ; but exceedingly disagreeable 
compounds of concept ited substances. He began with fine flour ; bread 
and water ; from whi^n he proceeded to bread, water, and sugar ; then to 
bread, water, and oil of olives ; then to bread, water, and milk ; afterwards 

7* 



154 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

he tried bread and water with roasted goose ; then bread and water with 
boiled beef; then stewed lean of beef with gravy; then oil of suet and 
water ; then flour, oil of suet, water, and salt ; then flour, water, and salt ; 
then bread and fat bacon ; then infusion of tea and sugar ; then bread or 
flour, with honey and an infusion of rosemary. A number of other dishes 
equally disagreeable, and some of them more so, were successively tried. He 
was healthy and vigorous when he commenced his experiments, but he gnv 
dually declined, and at the end of nine mouths he died after much sufferin;^'. 

221. Dr. Stark's experiments prove quite the contrary of what they 
were designed to establish ; and clearly show that concentrated alimentary 
substances, however varied, are destructive to health and life : this case 
might be urged, with much propriety, against too great a variety of food, 
and in favor of simplicity of diet. Even nations on whom science has not 
yet dawned are aware of the advantage of mixing innutritions substances 
with highly concentrated food. Thus the Kamtschatdales, who are fre- 
quently compelled to live on fish-oil, judiciously form it into a paste with 
saw-dust, or the rasped filings of indigenous plants. 

222. Much has been written, by physiologists, to demonstrate the neces- 
sity of variety of food — by which they generally mean a mixture of animal 
and vegetable substances ; and they quote many instances of ill effects 
arising from simplicity of diet. I am confident, however, that all the inju- 
rious effects that have been referred to simplicity of diet, have arisen from 
improper and unnatural food, or from food in too concentrated a state. 
Miiller informs us, that in Denmark, a diet of bread and water for four 
weeks is considered equivalent to the punishment of death. There must 
be some fallacy in this statement ; but, if correct, the injury produced may 
perhaps be attributed to the extraordinary fineness of the flour, and the 
superabundance of gluten which it contains. Knight, in his Physiologi- 
cal and Horticultural Papers, says : " Bread made of wheat, when taken 
in large quantities, has probably, more than any other article of food in use 
in this country, the effect of overloading the alimentary canal ; and the 
general practice of French physicians points out the prevalence of dis- 
eases thence arising amongst their patients." All the evils said to be pro- 
duced by living upon bread are due to our modes of refining upon nature ; 
and though it must be admitted that bread made from the finest wheated 
flour, if eaten in great abundance, and witliout a due admixture with innu- 
tritious matter, will be productive of serious consequences to health, yet it 
can be shown, upon good authority, that many individuals have subsisted 
for years on coarse, undressed wheat-meal bread and water alone ; and have 
not only improved in health, but become remarkably vigorous and robust. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 155 

Oliildreu whose food, for a considerable time, consists of superfine flour- 
bread, arrow-root, and other concentrated substances, (such as sugar, but- 
ter, &c.,) may appear fat and well, but do not acquire strength : they 
generally become weak and sickly, and are often covered with sores. 
Hence, some physicians who have written on the diet of children, have 
spoken in severe terms against confining children to an exclusively vegeta- 
ble diet. But if a child be put upon a diet of good bread made oi 
undressed wheat-meal, with milk-and-water or pure soft water for drink, 
and be allowed to indulge pretty freely in the use of good fruits in their 
seasons, none of the evils which result from concentrated forms of aliment, 
or which are attributed to vegetable diet, will be experienced ; but the 
child, if in other respects properly treated, will be healthy, and robust, and 
sprightly. (See case at 372.) 

223. " Bulk," says Dr. Beaumont, " is nearly as necessary to the articles 
of diet as the nutrient principle. They should be so managed, that one 
will be in proportion to the other. Too highly nutritive diet is probably 
as fatal to the prolongation of life and health as that which contains an 
insufiicient quantity of nourishment. It is a matter of common remark 
among old whalemen, that, during their long voyages, the coarser tlieir 
bread, the better their health." " I have followed the seas for 35 years," 
said an intelligent sea-captain to Mr. Graham, " and have been in almost 
every part of the globe ; and have always found that the coarsest pilot- 
bread, which contained a considerable proportion of bran, is decidedly the 
healthiest for my men." " I am convinced from my own experience," says 
another captain, " that bread made from the unbolted wheat-meal is far 
more wholesome than that made from the best superfine flour ; the latter 
always tending to produce constipation." Captain Benjamin Dexter, ui 
the ship Isis, belonging to Providence, R. I., arrived from China in Decem- 
ber, 1804. He had been about 190 days on the passage. The sea-bread, 
which constituted the principal article of food for his men, was made of the 
best superfine flour. He had not been long at sea before his men began to 
complain of languor, loss of appetite, and debility : these diSiculties con- 
tinued to increase during the whole voyage ; and several of the hands died 
on the passage of debility and inanition. The ship was obliged to come 
to anchor about thirty miles below Providence ; and such was the debility 
of the men on board, that they w^ere not able to get the ship under way 
again ; and the owners were under the necessity of sending men down from 
Providence to work her up. When she arrived, the owners asked Captain 
Dexter what was the cause of the sickness of his men. He replied — " The 
bread was too good." 



156 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

224. In Blackwood's Magazine for June, 1847, there is an excellent 
paper by Mr. Jounson, on the relative values of fine flour and the coarse 
meal. His estimates are as follow : 

1. The fat. Of this ingredient, 1,000 lbs. of the 

Whole grain contains 28 lbs. 

Fine flour ........ 20 

Bran 60 

2. Muscular matter. In 1,000 parts, — 

Whole Grain. Fine Flour. 

Wheat 156 130 

Indian corn 140 110 * 

3. Bone material and saline matter. In 1,000 lbs., — 

Bran contains 700 

Wholemeal 170 

Fine flour 60 

Whole Meal. Fine Flour. 

Muscular matter . . . 156 130 

Bone material .... 170 60 

Fat 28 20 

Total in each 354 210 

" To please the eye and the palate," observes Mr. J., " we sift out a less 
generally nutritive food, [does he mean what is generally considered a less 
nutritive food ?] and to make up for what we have removed, experience 
teaches us to have recourse to animal food of various descriptions." " The 
husk may be considered to form one-eighth of the whole ; hence, if the 
whole meal be used, eight people will be fed by the same weight of grain 
which only fed seven before. Again, we have seen that the whole meal is 
more nutritious ; so that this coarser flour will go farther than an equal 
weight of the fine, namely, one-half more nutritive than the fine. Leaving 
wide margin for the influence of circumstances, let us suppose it only one^ 
eighth more nutritive, and we shall have now nine people nourished equally 
by the same weight of grain, which, when eaten as fine flour, would support 
only seven. The wheat of the country, in other words, would in this form 
go one-fourth farther than at present. The mixture of the fine flour and 
the bran in reality increases the virtues of both." 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 157 



225. These instauces confirm tlie excellent observations of Dr. Prout, 
who says : " Of the numerous shapes assumed by lignin, the best adapted 
for excremental purposes is undoubtedly the external covering of the seeds 
of the cerealia, and particularly of wheat. Bread, therefore, made with 
undressed flour, or even with an extra quantity of bran, is the best form in 
which farinaceous and excremental matters can be usually taken ; not only 
in diabetes, but in most other varieties of dyspepsia accompanied by obsti- 
nate constipation. This is a remedy, the efl&cacy of which has been long 
known and admitted ; yet, strange to say, the generality of mankind 
choose to consult their taste rather than their reason : and, by oflflciously 
separating what nature has beneficially combined, entail upon themselves 
much discomfort and misery.* The mucous membrane of the stomach 
and intestines is, in some perons, so irritable, that it cannot bear furfura- 
oeous substances ; and in such cases coarse bread should be adopted by 
degrees, or the green matter of the leaves of plants and the skin of fruit 
may form a proper substitute. " Debility, sluggishness, constipation, ob- 
structions, and morbid irritability of the alimentary canal, have been 
among the principal roots of both chronic and acute diseases in civic life 
in all parts of the world, and in all periods of time ; and concentrated 
forms of food, compound preparations, irritating stimuli, and excess in 
quantity, have been among the principal causes of these difficulties." 



CHAPTER n. 

EXPERIENCE OF NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS. 

226. It will, perhaps be objected, that these are new doctrines, which, 
if true, would have been long since discovered to be so. Yet were this the 
first time of proclaiming the truth, the cry of novelty ought not to nega- 
tive the evidence adduced in its support. No pretensions, however, are 
made to originality ; for wise and good men in all ages have strenuously 
advocated the claims of a vegetable diet, and have strictly refrained from 
animal food. Such being the case, it may be asked why these claims have 
not been more generally acknowledged, and the diet more extensively 
adopted. Various reasons might be assigned for this. Few think it neces* 

* Nature and Treatment of Stomach and Benal Diseases, p. 46. 



158 BEBT FOOD OF MAN. 

sary either to investigate the subject, or to attend to it when introduced ' 
their notice ; and many have neither time nor opportunity for giving it a 
proper consideration. It is long, therefore, ere a scientific truth can 
extend its influence over the mass of mankind ; particularly if of a practi- 
cal nature, and opposed to long-established habits, whi^h, if we have the 
desire, we have not the resolution to alter, on account of the pleasing asso- 
ciations of past enjoyment, and the ardent desire they have implanted for 
renewed gratification. Our daily meals, our social visits, our family ties, 
and our friendly intercourse with each other, all tend to strengthen and 
confirm our dietetic habits, whether right or wrong ; so that we are unwill- 
ing to listen to one who would introduce any material change, especially 
when it seems likely to subtract from our pleasures. No wonder, then, 
that the discoveries of science — with regard to health, happiness, and 
morals — make so slow a progress ; nay, even when the judgment of a gene- 
rally accounted wise and rational man is convinced of an error in a dietetic 
habit, how seldom does it lead to reformation ! " There is a difference," 
observes Chalmers, " between such truths as are merely of a speculative 
nature, and such as are allied with practice and moral feeling. With the 
former, all repetition may be often superfluous ; with the latter, it may just 
be by earnest repetition that their influence comes to be thoroughly estab- 
lished over the mind of an inquirer." I have already quoted the opinions 
of some of our best anatomists and philosophers in support of the views 
advocated in this work ; and shall now mention a few more who have pro- 
ceded me in the same cause. 

227. Pythagoras, one of the most celebrated philosophers of antiquity, 
is the first we read of as defending a vegetable diet. He not only totally 
refrained from animal food himself, but also strictly prohibited the use of 
it by his disciples ; so that those who abstain from it, at the present time, 
are frequently called Pythagoreans. Pythagoras flourished about 500 
years before the Christian era. He was a man of immense learning, and 
extraordinary powers of intellect : he was the first demonstrator of the 
47th Problem of the First Book of Euclid ;* and entertained correct 
views of the solar system; which views, slumbering for ages after his 
death, were at length revived by Copernicus in the fifteenth century. One 
sentence of his, which has become an English proverb, is enough to estab- 
lish the character of the man : " Fix on that course of life which is the 
most excellent, and habit will render it the most delightful." Ovidf 
represents him as arguing thus : 

* " The square on the hypothenuse of any right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the 
two squares on the base and perpendicular." 
t Metamorphoses, B. xv., 1. 101. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 169 

" O mortals, from your follows' blood abstain ; 
Nor taiat your bodies with a food jjrofanel 
WJiiie corn and pulse by nature are bestowed, 
And planted orchards bend their willing load ; 
While labored gardens wholesome herbs produce, 
And teeming vines afford their generous juice ; 
Nor tardier fruits of cruder kind are lost, 
But tamed with fire, or mellowed by the frost ; 
While kine to pails distended udders bring. 
And bees their honey redolent of spring; 
While earth not only can your needs supply, 
But, lavish of her store, provides for luxury; 
A guiltless feast administers with ease. 
And without blood is prodigal to please." 

The poet proceeds to a much greater length than it is necessary here to 
transcribe. 

228. Zeno the Stoic, Diogenes the Cynic, Plato, Plutarch, Plautus, Pro- 
clus, Empedocles, Socion, Quintus Sextus, Apollonius Tyanoeus, Porphyry, 
and numerous others among the ancients, abstained from animal food ; and 
more recently, Haller, Ritson, (celebrated for his numerous works and splen- 
did talents,) Dr. Cheyne, Dr. Lambe, Mr. Newton, (who wrote a work 
entitled " Return to Nature,") Shelley, Dr. Hufeland, Sir Richard Phillips, 
Professor R. D. Mussey, of Hanover, U. S., Dr. James, of Wisconsin, Dr. 
Whitlaw, Dr. W. A. Alcott, of Boston, U. S., and many others, have both 
advocated and personally tried, for many years, a strictly and exclusively 
vegetable diet. Clement of Alexandria says of Saint Matthew, that " he 
abstained from the eating of flesh ; and that his diet was fruits, roots, and 
herbs."* The Manichseans, a sect of Christians, religiously abstained fi-om 
all kinds of animal food. Miuutius Felix, who about the year 210 a.d. 
wrote an elegant dialogue in defence of the Chi'istian religion, represents 
Octavius, the principal speaker, as saying : " We Christians dread the 
thoughts of murder, and cannot bear to look on a carcase : and we so 
abhor human blood, that we abstain from that of beasts." Descartes, at 
his table, in imitation of the good-natured Plutarch, always preferred 
fruits and vegetables to the bleeding flesh of animals.f The four most 
ancient orders of priests — the Rahans, the Brahmans, the Magi, and the 
Druids — confined themselves to vegetable food ; as did also the Athenian 
prince Triptolemus, who established the Eleusinian mysteries, and prohi- 
bited by law all injury to animals : his words are, Zcja jx-i Cjvstf&aj, (do not 
kill animals.) J 

* " Posdagogue," B. ii, c. 1. 

t Seward's Anecdotes, voL li p. 171. 

X Monthly Magazine, Feb. 1812, p. 21. 



160 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

229. But the illustration of this subject is not limited to the practice of 
individuals ; for whole nations, both ancient and modern, have subsisted 
during many generations on vegetable regimen : and it would be no diffi- 
cult matter to prove, that a considerable majority of the human race sel- 
dom or never taste animal food. "When Boadicea, Queen of the Ancient 
Britons, was about to engage the Eomans in a pitched battle, in the days 
of Roman degeneracy, (a.d. 61.) she encouraged her army by an eloquent 
speech, in which she says : " The great advantage we have over them is, 
that they cannot (like us) bear hunger, thirst, heat, or cold. They must 
have fine bread, wine, and warm houses. To us, every herb and root are 
food ; every juice is our oil, and every stream of water our wine." " In 
those terms," observes Lord Kaimes, " our fathers were robust both in mind 
and body ; and could bear, without much pain, what would totally over- 
whelm us." 

230. A considerable proportion of the laborers in various parts of Eng- 
land and Wales, even at the present day, eat but little animal food ; and, 
about seventy or eighty years ago, the principal part of the labor, in this 
country, was performed by those who seldom or never tasted flesh-meat. It 
is true that, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, we read of animal food and 
flagons of ale even at breakfast ; * but Sir F. M. Eden, whose elaborate 
researches have thrown much light on this subject, states that the substan- 
tiality of diet for which the sixteenth century was renowned, was confined 
chiefly to the tables of persons of rank. "A maid of honor," says he, 
" perhaps breakfasted on roast beef ; but the ploughman, in those good old 
times, (as they are called,) could (I fear) only banquet on the strength of 
water-gruel." {" State of the Poor," vol. i. p. 116.)f It is calculated by 
Mr. McCulloch, that " on the most moderate computation, the consumption 
of butcher's meat in the metropolis even, as compared with the population, 
is twice as great at this moment as in 1740 or 1750. J 

231. The food of the native Irish was (principally, if not oxclusively) 
vegetable, long before the potato was known in Europe. Nay, in almost 

* "Notwithstanding all that is said," observes McCulloch, "of the rude hospitality, and of 
the consumption of ale and beer, in those remote times, it is abundantly certain that the 
laboring classes consume, at this time, ten times more malt-liquor than their ancestors over 
did, in either the fifteenth or the sixteenth century." — Statidical Account of the British 
Empire,^'' vol. ii. p. 496. 

t "During several months, even the gentry tasted scarcely any fresh animal food, except 
game and river fish, which were consequently much more important articles in housekeeping 
than at present. It appears from the Northumberland Household Book, that in the reign of 
Henry VII. fresh meat was never eaten, even by the gentlemen attendant on a great earl, 
except during the short interval between Midsummer and Michaelmas." — MacavXay. 

X Statistical Account of the British Empire, vol. ii. p. 49T. 



UEST FOOD OF MAN. 161 

the first glimpses we have of them, they are represented to us as herbivo- 
rous, iroricpayoi ; for such is the expression of Solinus. So they continue 
to be described by Spenser, Hollmgshed, and Camden. The latter says : 
"As for their meats, they feed willingly upon herbs and water-cresses ; 
especially upon mushrooms, shamrocks, and roots." In which he is cor- 
roborated by Ware, the Irish antiquary, who wrote about the time when 
the potato was introduced. The food of the Irish peasantry of the present 
day is almost wholly composed of the potato, without any other vegetable ; 
and only in favorable circumstances is it accompanied with milk. In 
reference to this diet of the Irish, it has been observed : " When I see the 
people of a country with well-formed, vigorous bodies, and their cottages 
swarming with childi-en ; when I see their men athletic, and their women 
beautiful, I know not how to believe them subsisting on unwholesome 
food."* It has even^been stated, on authority which cannot be doubted, 
that rents have been raised because the tenant has been seen to eat " apple 
taters" — potatoes of the best sort — the landlord considering their quality 
too good for the consumer, who should have sold them for his benefit, and 
substituted coarser in their place.f I do not, however, name this by way 
of recommending a potato diet. Far from it. I sincerely wish that those 
poor but industrious creatures could obtain a plentiful supply of corn, rice, 
milk, fi'uit, &c. ; the only object in naming the subject here, is to show 
upon what a scanty diet it is possible for the human frame to be supported. 
Dr. Smith, in his "History of Kerry," declares this food to be sufficient 
for preserving the Irish laborers in full health and vigor. 

232. The hardy Scotch, also, are almost exclusively confined in their 
diet to the productions of the field and garden. " So late as 1763," says 
Mr. McCulloch,J " the slaughter of bullocks for the supply of the public 
markets was a thing wholly unknown even in Glasgow, though the city 
had then a population of nearly 30,000 ! Previously to 1775, or perhaps 
later, it was customary in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the principal Scotch 
towns, for families to purchase in November what would now be reckoned 
a small, miserable, half-fed cow or ox, the salted carcase of which was the 
only butcher's meat they tasted throughout the year." At the period of 
their greatest simplicity, manliness, and bravery, the Greeks and Romans 
appear to have lived almost entirely on plain vegetable preparations ; and 
at the present time, bread, fruits, and roots constitute the chief nourish- 



* Young's Tour in Ireland, vol. ii., pt. 2, p. 83. 

t Penny Oyclopfedia, article " Food of Laborers." 

t Statistical Account of the British Empire, vol. 2, p. 502. 



162 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

ment of the Italians, and of the mass of the population of Southern 
Europe. 

233. The Lazzaroni of Naples are a tall, stout, well-formed, robust, and 
active class of people ; and yet subsist chiefly on coarse bread and pota- 
toes ; and their drink of luxury is a glass of iced water, slightly acidu- 
lated. 

234. In France, a vegetable diet prevails to a very great extent. M. 
Dupin informs us that two-thirds of the French people, to this day, are 
wholly deprived of animal food, and live on chestnuts, or maize, or potatoes. 
The peasantry of Norway, Sweden, Kussia, Denmark, Poland, Germany, 
Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and of almost every other 
country in Europe, subsist principally, and most of them entirely, on vege- 
table food. 

235. The inhabitants of Asia and Africa are conipelled by their climate 
to refrain in great measure from animal food. The Persians, Hindoos, 
Burmese, Chinese, Japanese, the inhabitants of the East India Archipelago, 
and of the mountains of Himalayah, and, in fact, most of the Asiatics, live 
upon vegetable productions. It has been maintained by Dr. Yan Cooth, 
(no vegetable-eater himself,) in a learned medical dissertation, that the 
great body of the ancient Egyptians and Persians " confined themselves to 
a vegetable diet ;" and the Egyptians of the present day, as well as the 
Negroes, (whose great bodily powers are well known,) live chiefly on vege- 
table substances. The Mexican Indians and South-Sea Islanders were 
formerly remarkable for their great temperance, and attachment to a vege- 
table diet, but they have recently been corrupted by the introduction of 
European customs. I might greatly extend the list of those who subsist 
on vegetable productions ; but as they will be hereafter referred to, the 
mention of them here is unnecessary. It has been observed, that " from 
two-thirds to three-fourths of the whole human family, from the creation 
of the species to the present moment, have subsisted entirely, or nearly so, 
on vegetable food ; and always, when their alimentary supplies of this kind 
have been abundant and of a good quality, and their habits have been in 
other respects correct, they have been well nourished and well sustained in 
all the physiological interests of their nature." 

236. But it is not a sufficient recommendation of a vegetable diet to 
show that it has been adopted by nations as well as individuals. I shall 
therefore now point out a few of the many advantages of an exclusive 
adoption of it.^^ 

[Note 23. I cannot refrain here from alluding to the most common 



BESTFOODOFMAN. 163 



objection to vegetarianism we meet with in this comitry ; and I do so for 
the purpose of explaining it away. The objection is, that vegetarians are 
themselves poor specimens of health. And the answer is, that the great 
majority of those who are the subjects of notice and comment are inva- 
Mds who are restricted to a vegetable diet, because they can recover health 
in no other way ; and many of them are living on a strict vegetable regi- 
men, because it is the only way tliey can live at all. At the various 
hydropathic establishments in this country the most desperate cases are 
put on a vegetable diet, simply because it afibrds them the best chance for 
getting well. The casual observer, who judges by appearances, will 
always find an argument in favor of flesh-eating in the fact that the best- 
looking persons, physiologically, are those who eat meat. 

There are, however, in this country, particularly amongst the Bible 
Christians of Philadelphia, many persons of adult age who have never 
tasted animal food, and who will not suffer, as respects mental and bodily 
development, with the best specimens of flesh-eaters that can be found. 

There are also, scattered over the United States here and there, speci- 
mens of humanity whose bodily vigor and mental capacity are conclusive 
in favor of vegetarianism, so far as the experimental evidence is con- 
cerned. T.] 



CHAPTER in. 

FRUITS AND FARINACEA CONDUCIVE TO HEALTH. 

O beata sanitas I te praesente amsenuia 
Ver floret gratiis, absque te nemo beatus. 

237. "A PHILOSOPHICAL friend once remarked to me," says Dr. Combe, 
" that he never considered himself to be in complete health, except when 
he was able to place his feet firmly on the turf, his hands hanging care- 
lessly by his side, and his eyes wandering over space ; and, thus circum- 
stanced, to feel such agreeable sensations arising in his merely bodily 
frame, that he could raise his mind to heaven, and thank God that he was 
a living man." This is probably as brief and as correct a description of 
health as can be given ; for the man in perfect health will possess that 
buoyancy of feeling, good humor, and satisfaction, which never fail to 
accompany the human organism when all the functions are in order : then 



164 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

may a man with truth exclaim, " Yivere ipsa voluptas !" To acquire 
and preserve this equable and regular discharge of the various functions 
of the body, requires an originally good development of the organs, or 
constitutional stamina, and a strict fulfilment of the physiological laws of 
our nature. 

238. These, however, we are not called upon to consider, except so far 
as diet is concerned ; in reference to which it may be observed, that all 
food is both nutritive and stimulative ; and upon the relative proportion 
of these two qualities in any article of diet, depends its power of producing 
the "juste milieu" of existence. If the stimulating property be in excess, 
the functions are abnormally accelerated, life flies too fast, pleasurable 
feelings are vivid but evanescent, and disease is frequently the result. If 
the nutritive properties prevail, the functions are sluggishly performed, a 
stupid state of indifference creeps over the frame, life is passed without 
animation, and actual pleasure appears to be unknown. There seems, 
however, no reason to doubt that each article of food, while in the state 
in which nature provides it, contains that just proportion of the two qua- 
lities which is requisite for the healthy discharge of the functions of the 
animal for the use of which it was provided, and the organs of which are 
in strict relation to the condition of its food. But if a diet be adopted by 
any animal, materially different from that to the digestion and assimilation 
of which its organs are strictly adapted, though the new food contain aU 
the chemical elements necessary for the due nourishment of the animal, it 
is possible their mechanical combination — ^upon which, probably, the nutri- 
tive and stimulative qualities depend — may be such as to prevent its 
perfect assimilation. All animals do not require the same degree of stimu- 
lation for the attainment of that state of perfection of which their nature 
renders them susceptible ; and, consequently, the food that may be admira- 
bly adapted to the wants and necessities of one, may be quite inadequate 
to the due development of another. 

239. Xow, though grain and other vegetables contain the same proxi- 
mate principles as the flesh of animals, (namely, albumen, fibrin, and casein,) 
yet these must be in a different state of combination in the two kinds of 
diet ; for it is universally admitted, and daily experience proves the fact, 
that animal food is much more stimulating than vegetable food ; and if the 
latter contains such a proportion of the stimulative quality as is sufficient 
to maintain man in perfect health, then every additional degree of stimu- 
lation — whether derived from the flesh of animals, or from such articles as 
are stimulative without being nutritious (as spirits, wine, &c.) — must be 
injurious to health. But as slight deviations from health are little noticed, 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 166 

and as the seeds of disease are generally sown long before any serious 
attack is experienced, few refer their complaints to the real causes, and 
usually blame any little indiscretion which immediately precedes actual 
pain. It was well observed by Hippocrates, that " diseases do not fall 
upon men instantaneously, but, being collected by slow degrees, they 
explode with accumulated force." Hence it is that none, except those 
who have paid great attention to the subject, are ever led to suspect that 
the flesh \Nliich they and others are daily in the habit of eating can be in 
any way connected with their sufierings. 

240. It may be shown — both from the opinions of medical writers, and 
from numerous well-attested examples — that vegetables are sufficient for 
maintaining man in a perfectly healthy condition. 

241. Haller — a first-rate botanist, an eminent physician, and a profound 
philosopher — says : " This food, then, which I have hitherto described, and 
in which flesh has no share, is salutary ; insomuch that it fully nourishes a 
man, protracts life to an advanced period, and prevents or cures such dis- 
orders as are attributable to the acrimony or grossness of the blood."* 
The celebrated Dr. Hufelani^ taught, that a simple vegetable diet was 
most conducive to health and long life. Sir William Temple — after no- 
ticing the customs and habits of the Patriarchs, the Brahmans, and the 
Brazilians — says : " From all these examples and customs it may probably 
be concluded that the common ingredients of health and long life are, great 
temperance, open air, easy labor, little care, simplicity of diet — rather fruits 
and plants than flesh, (which easily corrupts,) and water ; which preserves 
the radical moisture, without too much increasing the radical heat. 
Whereas sickness, decay, and death, proceed commonly from the one prey- 
ing too fast upon the other, and at length wholly extinguishing it." 

242. Porphyry, (444,) when addressing Firmus Castricius, who had re- 
linquished Pythagorean abstinence, says : " You owned, when you lived 
among us, that a vegetable diet was preferable to animal food, both for 
preserving health and facilitating the study of philosophy ; and now, since 
you have eaten flesh, your own experience must convince you that what 
you then confessed was true. The use of flesh does not contribute to 
health, but rather prevents it ; since health is preserved by the same mea- 
sures by which it is restored : but it is restored by the use of the lightest 
food, and by abstinence from flesh ; and consequently health is preseiTed 
by the same means. A quiet state of mind is of the utmost importance 
to the maintenance of health, and a light and spare diet contributes greatly 
to the same end." 

* Haller, Elem, Phy., vol. vi. p. 199. 



]6() BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

243. Tyron, who wrote " The Way to Health," says : " I am sure that i 
a man may make a better meal with half a pennyworth of wheaten flour j 
made into pap, and half a pennyworth of bread to eat with it, and a little i 
salt, and be as strong, brisk, and able to perform any labor, as he that ! 
makes the besl meal he can, with either flesh or fish ; so great is the igno- 
ranee, folly, blindness, false opinion, and custom of those that call theia- ; 
selves learned." Again he says : " If all men would refrain eating of flesh, | 
there would be no cause to complain for want of food : for the Almighty i 
has, in all particulars, been gracious and bountiful unto all creatures, but i 
more especially unto mankind ; for whom he has spread a plentiful table; ] 
furnishing the whole earth with a great multitude or variety of herbs, : 
fruits, grains, and seeds, fit for food ; which do afford a nourishment of a ' 
most excellent substance, and far beyond flesh." Dr, Adam Smith, in his 

" Wealth of Nations," says : " It may indeed be doubted whether butcher's i 
meat is anywhere a necessary of life. Grain, and other vegetables, with j 
the help of milk, cheese, and butter, or oil, (where butter is not to be had,) j 
it is known from experience can, without any butcher's meat, afford the j 
most plentiful, the most wholesome, the most nourishing, and the most in- i 
vigorating diet."* 

244. In the "Anatomy of Abuses," published (in 1583) by Stubbes, we 
find the following quaint observations respecting articles of diet at that j 
time : " I marvel how our forefathers lived, who eat little els but colde ! 
meates, grosse, and hard of digesture ? Yea, the most of them fead upon i 
graine, carne, rootes, pulse, hearbes, weedes, and such other baggage ; and , 
yet lived longer than wee, were healthfuller than wee, of better complec- 
tion than wee, and much stronger than wee in every respect ; wherefore i 
can not perswade myself otherwise, but that our niceness and curiousness 
in diet hath altered our nature, distempered our bodies, and made us subject 
to millions of diserasies and diseases, more than ever were our forefathers 
subject unto, and consequently of shorter life than they. Doe wee not see 
the poore man, that eateth browne bread (whereof some is made of ryf», 
barlie, peason, beanes, oates, and such other grosse grains) and drinketh 
small drink, yea, some tymes water, feedeth upon milke, butter, and cheese, 
(i sale) doe wee not see suche a one healthfuller, stronger, fairer compleo 
tioned, and longer livying, then the other that fare daintilie every daie? 
And how should it be otherwise ?" 

245. Dr. Cheyne, whose opinion has been previously quoted (152) on 
the natural food of man, farther observes : " For remedying the distempers 
of the body, to make a man live as long as his original frame was designed 

* Vol. iii. p. 337. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 167 

to last, with the least pain and fewest diseases, and without the loss of his 
senses, I think Pythagoras and Cornaro by far the two greatest men that 
ever were : the first by vegetable food and unfermeuted liquors ; the latter 
by the lightest and least of animal food, and naturally fermented liquors. 
Both lived to a great age. But, what is chiefly to be regarded in their 
conduct and example, both preserved their senses, cheerfulness, and serenity 
to the last ; and, which is still more to be regarded, both at last dissolved 
without pain or struggle, after a great age of perfect health. A plain, 
natural, and philosophical reason why vegetable food is preferable to all 
other food is, that, abounding with few or no salts, being soft and cool, and 
consisting of parts that are easily divided and formed into chyle, without 
giving any labor to the digestive powers, it has not that force to open the 
lacteals, to distend their orifices, and excite them to an unnatural activity, 
to let them pass too great a quantity of hot rank chyle into the blood, and so 
overcharge and inflame the lymphatics and capillaries, which is the natural 
and ordinary effect of animal food ; and, therefore, cannot so readily pro- 
duce diseases. There is not a sufficient stimulus in the salts and spirits of 
vegetable food to create an unnatural appetite or violent cramming ; at 
least, not sufficient to force open and extend the mouths of the lacteals 
more than naturally they are or ought to be. Such food requires little or 
no force of digestion ; a little gentle heat and motion being sufficient to 
dissolve it into its integral particles. So that in a vegetable diet, though 
a delightful piquancy in the food may sometimes tempt one to exceed in 
quantity, yet rarely, if spices and sauces (as too much butter, oil, and 
sugar) are not joined to seeds and vegetables, can the mischief go farther 
than the stomach and bowels, to create a pressed load, sickness, vomiting, 
and purging, by its acquiring an acrimony from its not being received into 
the lacteals ; so tliat, on more being admitted into the blood than the ex- 
penses of living require, life and health can never be endangered by vege- 
table diet. But all the contrary happens under a high animal diet." 

246. Dr. Craigie, who has recently published an excellent work on the 
practice of physic, says : " Diet consisting of animal food is not requisite, 
either to preserve health or maintain strength ; and diet of articles from 
which the flesh of animals is together excluded, is perfectly adequate to the 
sustenance of the human body, in a state of good health and strength." 
Dr. James Mollenson (of View Bank, near Montrose, North Britain) says : 
" Thus it will appear, that it is under the use of a diet chiefly of grain, 
milk, and vegetables, or certain simple and innocent modes of regimen, 
that firm health and long life have, in the great plurality of instances, 
been enjoyed." 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



247. " I formerly believed, in common with the generality of mankind, 
that meat was an indispensable article of food, particularly to the laboring 
man, but have had abundant reason to change my opinion. I have had 
free intercourse for two or three years with a large number of physiologi- 
cal reformers, who subsist entirely upon vegetable food, and find they are 
much more healthy and vigorous than those who make use of meat. Some 
of these reformers are laboring men, who are compelled to work hard from 
the rising to the setting of the sun, and they assure me they possess a 
greater amount of physical strength than when in the habit of flesh-eating. 
Moreover, they always have a relish for their meals, without being troubled 
by a loss of appetite at one time, or the cravings of hunger at another. 
They are comparatively exempt, also, Irom attacks of disease, such as colds, 
diarrhoea, dysentery, and the prevaing maladies of the seasons ; and among 
the whole of these reformers, I rarely or never met with a case of costive- 
ness, or sick-headache — complaints which are so universal at the present 
day."* 23 

[Note 23. Constipation is the prevailing condition of the people of 
this country ; more especially with females : and probably the inhabitants 
of no country in the world use so great a proportion of concentrated and 
obstructing food. The maladies which spring from this source are almost 
legion, and the infirmities and suffering are absolutely appalling. Yet our 
doctors go on from year to year, and from generation to generation, in- 
structing the people how to destroy their bowels with physic, instead of 
the manner of regulating them by proper food. In the dozen years 
of medical practice, during which my attention has been particularly 
directed to this subject, I have never known a consistent vegetarian to 
be troubled with costive bowels, sick headache, dysentery, nor piles ; nor 
a well-fed child of vegetarian parents to be afiQicted with dysentery, nor 
cholera infantum. T.] 

248. It would be easy to cite many more medical authorities, to show 
that a fruit and farinaceous diet is not inconsistent with perfect health ; 
but this is unnecessary. I shall therefore endeavor to confirm the opinions 
already given, by a few practical examples. 

249. " The natives of Sierra Leone, whose climate is said to be the 
worst on earth, are very temperate ; they subsist entirely on small quanti- 
ties of boiled rice, with occasional supplies of fruit, and drink only cold 

* American Vegetable Practice, by Morris Mattson, Physician to the Keformed Boston 
Dispensary, &c. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 1C9 

water : in consequence, they are strong and healthy, and live as long as 
men in the most propitious climates.""^ 

250. Dr. W. Stark mentions, that Mr. Slingsby lived many years on 
bread, milk, and vegetables, without animal food or wine ; and that since 
he observed this regimen, he was very vigorous, enjoyed good health and 
spirits, and remained free from gout ; and that Dr. Knight lived long on 
diet strictly vegetable, excepting eggs, milk, (with tea and chocolate,^ and 
butter ; — taking however a little wine ; and that, living in this manner, he 
had been free from attacks of gout. 

251. Dr. Combe mentions a remarkable case of improvement in the 
health of children, by attention to the physiological laws. It is that of 
the Orphan Asylum in Albany, (New York,) which was opened towards 
the end of 1829, with about seventy children ; — the number being subse- 
quently increased to eighty. " During the first tliree years," says he, " when 
an imperfect mode of management was in operation, from four to six 
childi-en were constantly on the sick-list, and sometimes more ; one or two 
assistant-nurses were necessary ; the physician was in regular attendance 
twice or thrice a week ; and the deaths amounted (in all) to between thirty 
and forty, or about one in every month. At the end of this time, an 
improved system of diet and general management was adopted ; and, not- 
withstanding the disadvantages inseparable from the orphan state of the 
children, the results were in the highest degree satisfactory. The nursery 
was soon entirely vacated, and the services of the nurse and physyclan no 
longer needed ; and, for more than two years, no case of sickness or death 
took place. It is also stated that, since the new regimen has been fully 
adopted, there has been a remarkable increase of health, strength, activity, 
vivacity, cheerfulness, and contentment among the children. The change 
of temper is also very great : they have become less turbulent, irritable, 
peevish, and discontented ; and far more manageable, gentle, peaceable, and 
kind to each other." It is surprising that neither Dr. Combe nor Dr. Car- 
penter (who also quotes the case) informs us in what this change of diet 
consisted ; namely, a complete exclusion of all animal food, and strict 
adherence to vegetable regimen ; with certain other salutary regulations as 
to ventilation, sleeping-rooms, &c. 

252. Dr. Lambe, who has (in two or three works) strenuously and excel- 
lently vindicated the cause of vegetable diet ; Mr. Newton, who also has 
written upon the subject ; Sir Richard Phillips, and many others in this 
country, might be mentioned^ as enjoying good health for many years, 
without tasting any kind of animal food ; but as most of the cases to be 

* Monthly Magazine, July, 1S15, p. 528. 
8 



170 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

adduced by way of illustration will range more appropriately under some 
of the succeeding heads, the examples already given may suffice. 



CHAPTER IV. 

TEGETABLE FOOD CONSISTENT WITH PHYSICAL STEENGTH AND ACTIVITY. 

253. Though it is generally admitted by medical professors who have 
c ^^sidered the subject, that vegetable food is quite sufficient for the main- 
tb, jAnce of health, yet there is a very prevalent opinion (in this country, at 
le'o^t) that it is insufficient for imparting to the human frame that degree 
of Muscular power and energy which is in strict harmony with the due 
development of other parts of the system. If brute force, exerted for 
short ^jeriods of time — without any regard to intellectual culture, moral 
feeKnj>, human sympathy, domestic happiness, or longevity — be considered 
the perreotion of human existence, then is a diet of flesh-meat entitled to 
our prererence : but if the normal development of the physical, mental, 
and moral powers of man — the production of the pm'est enjoyment and 
greatest happiness for the longest period — be the objects of our choice, 
then shall we lind a well-selected vegetable diet much superior to either an 
animal or mixed one, for accomplishing our purpose. 

254. The flesh of animals and fermented liquors, being much more 
stinmlative than fruit and farinaceous vegetable substances, appear to impart 
considerably more strength and vigor to the muscular system than the 
latter ; and doubtless, while the stimulation lasts, a person is capable of 
much greater exertion under it ; but the only sure way of permanently 
increasing the powers of the muscular system, is by a natural and nutritious 
diet, along with judicious exercise. The mode in which stimulants act, is 
by exciting the nervous energy, and quickening the circulation, and thus 
producing rapid transformations of the tissues throughout the whole 
structure ; and while these changes are taking place — whether as the effect 
of animal food, fermented liquors, anger, madness, fever, or exercise — the 
muscular power is (for the time) increased ; but exhaustion constantly suc- 
ceeds, and wiU invariably be in proportion to the degree and duration of 
their action. Exercise, however, is the only safe and legitimate stimulant, 
in a normal state of the system; for it creates a healthy demand for 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 171 

-« — . — ■ — . 

renewal, by promoting the requisite decomposition of structure ; while the 
others destroy the balance between decay and reproduction, and thus lay 
the foundation of local or general disease.^^ 

[Note 25. — ^Those effects which are called stimulant, tonic, &c., are in 
reality the evidences of the resistance which the vital powers make to the 
injurious or impure substance, and not, as is commonly supposed, the action 
of the article on the system. The feeling of strength is increased, for the 
reason that the energies of the system are roused into unnatural intensity of 
action to defend the vital machinery ; and the reason that a depression of 
power is always experienced afterwards, is because the vital energy has 
been expended, uselessly wasted, in the struggle. T.] 

255. " But whatever may be the real character of the stimulus, every 
sthnulation to which the system is accustomed increases, according to the 
power and extent of its influence, what is called ' the tone,' and the action 
of the parts on which it is exerted ; and, while the stimulation lasts, it 
always increases the feeling of strength and vigor in the system — ^whether 
any nourishment be imparted to the system or not. Yet, by so much as 
the stimulation exceeds, in degree, that which is necessary for the full and 
healthy performance of the function or functions of the organs stimulated, 
by so much the more does the expenditure of vital power and waste of 
organized substance exceed, for the time, the replenishing and renovating 
economy of the system; and, consequently, the exhaustion and indirect 
debility which succeed the stimulation are always necessarily commensu- 
rate with the excess. Hence, though that food which contains the greatest 
proportion of stimulating power to its quantity of nourishment, causes, 
while its stimulation continues, a feeling of the greatest strength and vigor, 
it also necessarily produces the greatest exhaustion in the end ; which is 
commensurately importunate and vehement in its demands for relief, by the 
repetition of the accustomed stimulus ; and, as the same food more readily 
than any other affords the demanded relief, by supplying the requisite 
degree of stimulation, our feelings always lead us to believe that it is really 
the most strengthening. Hence, whenever a less stimulating diet is sub- 
stituted for a more stimulating one, a corresponding physiological depres- 
sion, or want of tone and action, always necessarily succeeds — varying in 
degree and duration, according to the general condition of the system, and 
the suddenness and greatness of the change ; and this depression is always 
attended by a feeling of weakness and lassitude ; which is immediately 
removed, and the feeling of strength and vigor restored, by the accustomed 



172 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

degree of stimulation, by whatever produced — whether any increase of 
nourishment is actually afforded to the system or not. The feeling of 
strength produced by stimulation, therefore, is no proof that the stimulating 
substance is either nourishing or salutary, nor even that it is not decidedly 
baneful." * Yet how many are deceived by the temporary sensation thus 
produced ! 

256. " Dulong found that the quantity of oxygen lost during respiration, 
and not replaced by carbonic acid, amounted, (on an average,) in the case 
of herbivorous animals, to one-tenth of the volume of that which was 
replaced by carbonic acid ; in the case of carnivorous animals, it amounted 
to from one-fifth to one-half" f It was also ascertained by the experiments 
of Dr. Fife, and confirmed by the observations of Mr. Spalding, in his own 
person, that in the same individual, while animal food is taken, a larger 
quantity of air is required for respiration, and a greater proportion of 
oxygen is consumed, than when vegetable aliment is employed. It may be 
inferred, also, that the greater the quantity of animal food eaten, the 
greater is the quantity of oxygen consumed by the lungs in a given time. 
The respirations, also, are more frequent in a given time, when the indivi- 
dual subsists on animal food, than when he lives on vegetable aliment. 
" These facts show," says Dr. Craigie,| " that the sustenance of the frame 
by means of animal diet causes a more violent and laborious action of the 
lungs than the sustenance of the same frame by means of vegetable diet. 
Hence, persons living on animal food breathe laboriously, and are less 
capable of fatigue." These facts have been sufficiently explained, {200 ;) 
and it has been shown that, under a farinaceous diet, a considerable amount 
of oxygen is separated from the food, whereby a less amount of atmospheric 
air for respiration becomes necessary. Hence, also, the advantage of 
vegetable food in cases of phthisis, because it is of a milder and less 
stimulating nature than an animal or mixed diet ; and the lungs have 
much less labor to perform. (362.) 

257. The processes of assimilation and nutrition, also, on a flesh diet, are 
more rapid, and attended with a greater expenditure of vital power and 
waste of organized substance, than in the use of pure vegetable aliment : 
hence those who subsist principally on the former suffer much more dis- 
tress from hunger, when deprived of their accustomed meals, than they do 
who subsist on the latter. This is one important reason why — all other 
things being equal, and the system being fully established in its habits — 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. ii. p. 96. 

t Miiller's Elements of Physiology, vol. i. p. 326. 

X Elements of the Practice of Physic, vol. ii, p. 643. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 173 

they who subsist on a well-chosen vegetable diet can endure protracted 
labor, fatigue, and exposure, without food, much louger than they who 
subsist mostly or entirely on flesh-meat. For as the transformation of the 
tissues takes placi more slowly on the former diet, and as the true sensa- 
tion of huuger depends upon the general wants of the system rather than 
upon the emptiness of the stomach, the appetite for food does not recur so 
frequently on well-chosen vegetable aliments ; nor is the craving for food 
80 acute as upon a more stimulatmg diet. The more stimulating the food, 
the sooner does the demand for it return. ^^ 

[Note 26. I have often noticed, in conducting a "Water-Cure establish- 
ment, containing more than a hundred inmates on the average, about half 
of whom were either vegetarians in principle, or were restricted to an 
exclusively vegetable diet by special prescription, that such patients can 
bear fasting for a time much better than the flesh-eaters ; and they suf- 
fer but little, in comparison with those who employ a mixed diet, from the 
" craving" sensation at the stomach, on the approach of the dinner or sup- 
per hour. To this rule I have never known one exception. T.] 

258. That even grass and other herbaceous substances are quite ade- 
quate to produce great physical force and vigor, when the alimentary 
organs are in direct relation to the food to be assimilated, we may learn 
from the horse, the elephant, the rhinoceros, and many other herbivorous 
animals, whose great muscular power is well known ; and that fruits, roots, 
and grain are also competent to supply considerable muscular energy, is 
sufficiently evinced by the orang-outang, "Allemand, the Dutch professor 
of Natural History, had received many vague and unsatisfactory accounts 
respecting an animal of this kind, and was induced to write to Mr. May, a 
captain in the Dutch naval service, stationed at Surinam. This gentleman 
found him exactly similar to one which he had brought from Guinea, 
except in size. He was nearly five feet and a half high, and very strong 
and powerful. Mr. May had seen him take up his master (a stout man) 
by the middle, and fling him from him for a pace or two ; and one day he 
seized a soldier, who happened to pass carelessly near the tree to which he 
was chained, and, if his master had not been present, he would actually 
have carried the man into the tree."* Dr. Abel gives an interesting 
account of the cruel capture of one of the red or Asiatic orangs ; and 
informs us hat, after receiving five balls, and vomiting a considerable 
quantity of Dlood, and when nearly in a dying state, he seized a spear 

♦ Sir W. Jardine's Naturalist's Library, "Mammalia," vol. I. p. 58. 



174 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

made of supple wood, which would have withstood the strength of the 
stoutest man, and shivered it in pieces : in the words of the narrator, he 
broke it as if it had been a carrot. It is stated by those who aided in his 
death, that the human-like expression of his countenance, and piteous 
manner of placing his hands over his wounds, distressed their feelings, and 
almost made them question the nature of the act they were committing.* 

259. But we are not dependent upon illustrations from the inferior races 
of animals, to prove that vegetable food is not inconsistent with muscular 
strength and vigor ; for ancient and modern history abounds with striking 
demonstrations of the fact ; and innumerable well-known instances at the 
present day, and to which reference will shortly be made, ought to convmce 
the most sceptical. We have already seen that the antediluvians enjoyed 
good health and strength, and lived to advanced periods of time, on vegeta- 
ble diet ; and, since the Flood, we have many examples to the same effect. 
" Cyrus, who raised Persia from an obscure, rude colony, to one of the 
most powerful and splendid empires that the world ever saw ; who per- 
formed more extraordinary marches, fought more battles, won more extror 
ordinary victories, and exhibited more personal prowess and bodily power 
of effort and endurance than almost any other general that ever lived, sub- 
sisted, from childhood, on the simplest and plainest diet of vegetable food 
and water ; and the Persian soldiers who went with him through all his 
career of conquest, and shared with him all his hardships, toils, and dan- 
gers, and on whom he always placed his main dependence in battle, and 
with whom he was able to march thousands of miles in an incredibly short 
time, and conquer armies of double the number of his own, were, like him- 
self trained from childhood on bread, cresses, and water ; and strictly ad- 
hered to the same simplicity of vegetable diet, throughout the whole of 
their heroic course, without relaxing from the stern severity of their abste- 
miousness even in the hour of victory, when the luxuries of captured cities 
lay in profusion around them." The Persians of the present day are very 
abstemious, and use little animal food. Pilau, or rice stewed with various 
ingredients, forms their favorite dish. The chief luxury of their table con- 
sists in a profusion of the best of fruits ; yet is the physical character of 
the Persians said to be fine, both as to strength and beauty. 

260. In the most heroic days of the Grecian army, their food was the 
plain and simple produce of the soil. The immortal Spartans of Ther- 
mopylae were, from infancy, nourished by the plainest and cor^sest vegeta- 
ble aliment ; and the Roman army, in the period of their g eatest valor 
and most gigantic achievements, subsisted on plain and coa le vegetable 

* Ibid., p. 85. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 176 

food. When the public games of ancient Greece — for the exercise of mus- 
cular power and activity in wrestling, boxing, ruuniug, &c. — were first 
instituted, the athletse, in accordance with the common dietetic habits of 
the people, were trained entirely on vegetable food. " Those who were 
destined to this profession frequented, from their tender age, the Gymnasia 
or Palestrae, which were a kind of academies maintained for that purpose 
at the public expense. In these places, such young people were under the 
direction of different masters, who employed the most effectual methods to 
inure their bodies for the fatigues of the public games, and to form them 
for the combats. The regimen they were under was very hard and severe. 
At first, they had no other nourishment but dried figs, nuts, soft cheese, and 
a gross, heavy sort of bread called * jjua^a.' They were absolutely forbid- 
den to use wine, and required to observe the strictest continence."* " In 
later times — after animal food had begun to be common among the people, 
and flesh-meat was found to be more stimulating, and to render their pu- 
gilists and gladiators more ferocious — a portion of flesh was introduced into 
the diet of the Athletae. But, according to the testimony of early Greek 
writers, it was soon found that the free use of this kind of aliment made 
them the most sluggish and stupid of men."f 

261. " It is said, that after the Eomans became a flesh-eating people, 
the Roman army was equally heroic and victorious ; but it should be 
remembered that, whatever were the practices of the wealthy and luxurious 
Roman citizen, flesh-meat entered but very sparingly into the diet of the 
Roman soldier till after the days of Roman valor had begun to pass away ; 
and, with equal pace, as the army became less simple and less temperate in 
their diet, they became less brave and less successful in arms. It should 
be remembered, also, that after the Romans had become a flesh-eating 
people, the success of the Roman army did not, as at first, depend on the 
bodily strength^ and personal prowess of individual soldiers, but on the 
aggregate power of well-disciplined legions, and on their skill in systematic 
war. So far as bodily strength and ability to endure voluntary action are 
considered, the Roman soldier was far the most powerful and heroic in 
Rome's earliest days, when he subsisted on his simple vegetable food.J 

262. The same important principles are demonstrated by the facts of 
modern times. '' Very few nations in the world," says a sagacious histo- 
rian, " produce better soldiers than the Russians. They will endure the 
greatest fatigues and sufferings with patience and calmness ;" and it is well 
known that the Russian soldiers are, from childhood, nourished by simple 

* EoUin'fl Ancient History, vol. 1. t Atbletae, Introduction. 

X Graham's Lectures, vol ii. p. 188. 



176 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

and coarse vegetable food. " The Kussian grenadiers," says a letter from 
the Helder, " are the finest body of men I ever saw : not a man is under 
six feet high. Their allowance consists of eight pounds of black bread, 
four pounds of oil, and one pound of salt, per man, for eight days ; and, 
were you to see them, you would be convinced tliat they look as well as if 
they lived on roast beef and English porter."* "The Russian peasant," 
observes Bremner in his " Excursions in the Interior of Russia," " is satis- 
fied with the plainest food. No people in Europe are so coarsely fed. 
Their diet consists of the most acrid articles that were ever devised : 
pickled cucumbers, pickled cabbages, or pickled mushrooms, with a piece 
of black bread, are their daily fare." Again he says : " Unless in the very 
largest towns, butcher's-meat would appear to be very little used. Even in 
such places as Toula and Zaraisk a butcher's-shop is never seen ; a calf 
with the skin half off is sometimes displayed at a butcher's door ; but the 
sight does not occur above once in two hundred miles. Fish is even more 
rare than beef, being always sold alive from the river ; none is ever 
exposed in tlie market-places. Vegetables and milk compose a great part 
of the diet in the districts we have now reached." 

263. " I have made several voyages to St. Petersburgh, in Russia," says 
Capt. Cornelius S. Howland, of New Bedford, Mass. " The people of Rus- 
sia generally subsist, for the most part, on coarse, black rye-bread and gar- 
licks. The bread is exceedingly coarse, sometimes containing almost whole 
grains ; and it is very hard and dry. I have often hired men to labor for 
me in Russia ; which they would do from sixteen to eighteen hours and 
* find themselves,' for eight cents per day, the sun shining there sometimes 
twenty hours in the day. They would come on board in the morning, with 
a piece of their black bread weighing about one pound, and a bunch of gar- 
licks as big as one's fist. This was all theii' nourishment for the day of 
sixteen or eighteen hours' labor. They were astonishingly powerful and 
active ; and endured severe and protracted labor far beyond any of ray 
men. Some of these men were eighty and even ninety years old ; and yet 
these old men would do more work than any of the middle-aged men 
belonging to my ship. In handling and stowing away iron, and in stowing 
away hemp with the jack-screw, they exhibited most astonishing power. 
They were full of agility, vivacity, and even hilarity; singing as they 
labored with all the buoyancy and blithesomeness of youth." 

2G4. The general food of the Norwegians is rye-bread, milk, and cheese. 
Mr. Twining says : "As a particular luxury, the peasants eat their sharke, 
which are thin slices of meat, sprinkled with salt, and dried m the wind, 

* The "Sun" newspaper for September 25, 1799. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 177 

like hung-beef ; but this indulgence in animal food is very rare indeed. A 
common treat, on high, days and holy days, consists of a thick hasty-])ud- 
ding, or porridge of oat-meal or rye-meal ; seasoned by two or three 
pickled herrings, or salted mackerel. All the travellers I have consulted, 
agree in representing the people as thriving on this apparently poor fare ; 
and in no part of the world, in proportion to its population, are there more 
instances of extreme longevity than in Norway." " Notwithstanding the 
poor fare of the inhabitants," says Dr. Capell Brooke, " they are remark- 
ably robust and healthy. Though in many parts animal food is quite 
unknown to them, they are generally tall and good-looking, with a manly 
openness of manner and countenance, which increased the farther north I 
proceeded. From this hardy way of living, and being daily accustomed to 
climb the mountains, they may be said to be in a constant state of training ; 
and their activity, in consequence, is so great, that they keep up with ease 
by the side of your carriage at full speed, for the distance of ten or twelve 
miles." 

265. '•' The Polish and Hungarian peasants from the Carpathian Mount- 
ains," says a young Polish nobleman, "are among the most active and 
powerful men in the world : they live almost entirely on oat-meal bread and 
potatoes. The Polish soldiers under Bonaparte," continues he, "would 
march forty miles in a day,, and fight a pitched battle ; and the next morn- 
ing be fresh and vigorous for further duties." The peasants of some parts 
of Switzerland, who hardly ever taste anything but bread, cheese, and but- 
ter, are vigorous people. " The Bernese," observes M. Raspail, " so active 
and so strongly formed, live scarcely on any thing but maize and fresh 
water." Those who have penetrated into Spain, have probably witnessed 
to what a distance a Spanish attendant will accompany on foot a traveller's 
mule or carriage ; not less than forty or fifty miles a day ; raw onions and 
bread being his only fare. 

266. " With respect to the Moorish porters in Spain," says Capt. C. F. 
Chase, of Providence, R. I., " I have witnessed the exceedingly large loads 
they are in the habit of carrying ; and have been struck with astonishment 
at their muscular powers. Others of the laboring class, particularly those 
who are in the habit of working on board of ships, and called in that 
country ' stevedores,' are also very powerful men. I have seen two of these 
men stow off a full cargo of brandy and wine in casks, after it was hoisted 
on board and lowered into the hold, apparently with as much ease as two 
American sailors would stow away a cargo of beef and pork. They 
brought their food on board with them, which consisted of coarse, brown 
wheat-bread and grapes." 

8^ 



178 BEST FOOD OF MAN 



267. " The Greek boatmen," says the venerable Judge WoodriiflP, of Con- 
necticut, who went out as the agent of the New Yorli: Committee for tlie 
relief of the Greeks, " are seen in great numbers about the harbors, seeking 
employment with their boats. They are exceedingly abstemious. Their 
food always consists of a small quantity of black bread, made of unbolted 
rye or wheat-meal, generally rye ; and a bunch of grapes or raisins, or some 
figs. They are, nevertheless, astonishingly athletic and powerful ; and tise 
most nimble, active, graceful, cheerful, and even merry people in the world* 
At all hours they are singing ; blithesome, jovial, and full of hilarity. I'he 
laborers in the ship-yards live in the same simple and abstemious manner, 
and are equally vigorous, active, and cheerful. They breakfast and dine on 
a small quantity of their coarse bread, and figs, grapes, or raisins. Their 
Bupper, if they take any, is still lighter ; though they more frequently take 
no supper, and eat nothing from dinner to breakfast. It is, indeed, asto- 
nishing to an American, to see on how small a quantity of food these peo- 
ple subsist. It is my serious opinion, that one hearty man in New England 
ordinarily consumes as much food in a day as a family of six Greeks. Yet 
there are no people in the world more athletic, active, supple, graceful, and 
cheerful. In Smyrna, where there are no carts or wheel-carriages, the 
carrying business falls upon the shoulders of the porters, who are seen iu 
great numbers about the wharves and docks, and in the streets near the 
water-side, where they are employed in lading and unlading vessels. They 
are stout, robust men, of great muscular strength ; and carry at one load, 
upon a pad fitted to their backs, from four hundred to eight hundred 
pounds. Mr. Langdon, an American merchant residing there, pointed me 
to one of them in his service, and assured me that, a short time before, he 
carried at one load, from his warehouse to the wharf, about twenty-five rods, 
a box of sugar weighing four hundred pounds, and two sacks of coffee weigh- 
ing each two hundred pounds — ^making, in all, eight hundred pounds : that, 
after walking off a few rods with a quick step, he stopped and requested 
that another sack of coffee might be added to his load ; but Mr. Langdon, 
apprehending danger from so great an exertion, refused his request." 
Lieut. Amasa Paine informs us, that one of these porters carried a load 
weighing nine hundred and sixty pounds. Mr. Luther Jewett, of Portland, 
Maine, says, that one of his schooners came into Portland, laden with 
barilla, from the Canary Islands ; and that he stood by while the schooner 
was discharging its cargo, and saw four stout American laborers attempt, 
In vain, to lift one of the masses of barilla, which the captain and mate 
both solemnly affirmed was brought from the storehouse to the vessel by 
a single man — a native laborer where they freighted ; and he subsisted 
entirely on coarse vegetable food and fruit. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 179 

•268. Mr. W. Fairbairn, of Manchester, in the " Report on the Sanitary 
Condition of the Labormg Population of Great Britain," says : " I ob- 
served, on a late journey to Constantinople, that the boatmen or rowers 
of the caiques, who are perhaps the first rowers in the world, drink nothing 
but water ; and they drink that profusely during the hot months of the 
summer. The boatmen and water-carriers of Constantinople are decidedly, 
in my opinion, the finest men in Europe, as regards their physical develop- 
ment ; and they are all water-drinkers : they may take a little sherbet ; 
but, in other respects, are what we should call in this country ' Teetotallers.' 
Tlieir diet is chiefly bread ; now and then a cucumber, with cherries, figs, 
dates, mulberries, or other fruits which are abundant there ; now and then 
a little fish : occasionally, I believe, they eat the flesh of goats ; but I 
never saw them eating any other than the diet I have described. They eat 
about the same amount as European workmen ; but, if any thing, are more 
moderate as respects quantity." 

269. Mr. Buckingham informs us that the inhabitants of the mountains 
of Himalayah, although fed upon nothing but rice, are yet much superior 
to our sailors in strength. The Japanese not only abstain from animal 
food, but even from milk and its productions. One of the laws whick they 
most religiously observe is, not to kill nor to eat any thing that is killed. 
Their chief food consists of rice, pulse, fruits, roots, and herbs, but mostly 
rice, which they have in great plenty and perfection ; and dress in so many 
different ways, and give to it such variety of tastes, flavor, and color, that 
a stranger would hardly know what he was eating.* Hot rice-cakes are 
the standard food ; and are kept ready at all the inns, to be presented to 
the traveller the moment he arrives, along with tea, and occasionally sack! 
or rice-beer. The Japanese are, however, represented as robust, well- 
made, and active, remarkably healthy, long-lived, and intelligent. " I see," 
says Michaelis, " from Russei's Natural History of Aleppo, (page 50,) that 
there the Jews and Turks never taste the flesh of cattle." 

270. The Hindoos are divided into several distinct orders or classes ; 
which division has existed from the remotest times. " The three higher 
classes are, by their religion, prohibited entirely the use of flesh-meat ; the 
fourth is allowed to eat all kinds except beef ; but only the lowest classes 
are allowed every kind of food without restriction ; and it is in these lowest 
classes that the most miserable, ill-formed, and indolent portion of the 
native inhabitants of India are found : while among the higher and more 
intelligent, temperate, and virtuous classes, which subsist on a pure and 
wholesome vegetable aliment, men of six feet stature, and with well- 

* "Mod, Univer. Hist," vol. Ix. p. 62. 



180 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

proportioned, symmetrical, vigorous, and active bodies, are by no means 
uncommon ; and for natural ease, grace and urbanity, this class of Asiatics 
are exceeded by no people in the world." * 

271. '' There is a caste of Hindoos," says Sir John Sinclair, " called, on 
the western side of India, Pattamars, whose sole occupation is to carry 
letters and despatches by land ; and they perform journeys almost incredi- 
ble in the time allotted, as is the small quantity of food they subsist on 
during their journey. They generally go in pairs, for fear of one's being 
taken ill, and are allowed rewards in proportion to the expedition with 
which they perform their journey. From Calcutta to Bombay, I think, 
twenty-five days are allowed, (about sixty-two miles a day ;) from Madras 
to Bombay, eighteen days ; from Surat to Bombay, three days and a half. 
They are generally tall, being from five feet ten inches to six feet high. 
They subsist on a little boiled rice." 

272. The Chinese also feed almost entirely on rice, confections, and fruits ; 
and although many of them — from chewing opium, and other pernicious 
habits, as well as from exti-eme scarcity of food — are in a state of great 
wretchedness, yet those who are enabled to live well, and spend a temperate 
life, are possessed of great strength and agility. "A finer shaped and 
more powerful race of men exists nowhere," says Sir John Davis, the 
present Governor of Hong Kong, " than the coolies or porters of Canton ; 
and the weight they carry with ease, on a bamboo between two of them, 
would break down most others. The freedom of their dress gives a devel- 
opment to their limbs that renders many of the Chinese models for the 
sculptor." Gutzlaff says that, on a certabi occasion, " not being able to 
walk, we procured sedan-chairs. The bearers appeared to be the lowest of 
the low — clad in a few rags, and looking as emaciated as if they were 
going to fall down dead. But under this unseemly exterior they hid great 
strength. I certainly believe that a well-fed horse would not have been 
able to carry some of us, who were stout and hale, over the' cragged moun- 
tains, without sinking under the load. But these men walk on briskly and 
sure-footed, and ascend acclivities with greater speed than we could have 
done in walking. Yet, though these men were meagre, and hungry as 
wolves, they were cheerful and boisterous. Of the scanty livelihood upon 
which the poorer classes, and indeed nine-tenths of the nation, are obliged 
to subsist, those who have not witnessed the reality can hardly have an 
adequate idea. The wages are so low that a man who has worked hard 
from morning till evening receives perhaps ten cents, and with this he has 
to maintain wife and children." 

* Graham's Lectures, voL 11., p. 198. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 181 

273. In Egypt, the diet of the peasantry and laboring people is much 
the same as in China. They use some animal substance, particularly fish, 
as a kind of relish or condiment, but their nourishment is derived from 
vegetable substances. Their food chiefly consists of coarse bread, made of 
wheat, of millet, or maize, together with cucumbers, melons, gourds, onions, 
leeks, beans, chickpease, lupins, lentils, dates, &c. Most of these vegetables 
they eat in a crude state. " It is indeed sui-prising to observe how simple 
and poor is the diet of the Egyptian peasantry, and yet how robust and 
healthy most of them are, and how severe is the labor which they can 
undergo. The boatmen of the Nile are mostly strong, muscular men. 
They undergo severe labor in rowing, poling, and towing ; but are very 
cheerful, and often the most so when most occupied, for then they frequently 
amuse themselves by singing." ^ " The Egyptian cultivators of the soil, 
who live on coarse wheaten bread, Indian bread, lentils, and other produc- 
tions of the vegetable kingdom," says Mr. Catherwood, " are among the 
finest people I have ever seen." 

274. The natives of Central Africa, who subsist wholly on vegetable 
food, possess astonishing bodily powers. " The people of Jenna," say the 
enterprising Landers, " have abundance of bullocks, pigs, goats, sheep, and 
poultry ; but they prefer vegetable food to animal. Their diet, indeed, is 
what we should term poor and watery, consisting chiefly of preparations of 
the yam, and of Indian corn ; notwithstanding which, a stronger or more 
athletic race of people is nowhere to be met with. Burdens with them 
are invariably carried upon the head ; and it not unfrequently requires the 
nnited strength of three men to lift a calabash of goods from the ground 
to the shoulders of one ; and then, and not till then, does the amazing 
strength of the Aftican appear. Some of the women that we saw bore 
burdens on their heads that would tire a mule ; and children not more than 
five or six years old trudged after them with loads that would give a full- 
grown person in Europe a brain-fever." 

275. "The Kroomen are a particular race of people, differing entirely 
from the other African tribes. They inhabit a country called ' Settra Kroo,' 
on the coast near Cape Palmas. Their prmcipal employment is of a mari- 
time nature. A certain number of these men are always employed on 
board of the ships of war, on the African coast, for the purpose of per- 
forming those duties in which considerable fatigue and exposure to the sun 
are experienced. They only require a little palm oil and a few yams to 
eat, and they are always ready to perform any laborious work which may 
be required of them."t 

* Lane's "Egypt." 

t. Graham's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 205, 



182 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

2*76. " The principal article of food among tlie Indians of Mexico, and 
more particularly in the state of Tobasco," says Mr. Pope, who resided 
several years among them, " is Indian corn. It consequently constitutes 
the most important article of agriculture ; and three crops may be obtained 
in a year, without the labor of tillage. From the corn they prepare a thin 
cake, called the ''j^rtiUa,' which is a bread universaEy used by the better 
class of the inhabitants, and a dough from which is made what they call 
* posol :' the latter article is prepared by boiling the corn, and afterwards 
crushing it on a flat stone fitted for the purpose, and which every family 
possesses ; it being substituted for grinding, as corn-mills are unknown m 
the country. This dough is laid aside until wanted for use, and in a short 
time becomes sour ; in which condition it is generally preferred. It is 
then mixed with water, to such a consistency as may be di^unk ; and some- 
times a little sugar is added. On this food alone they are enabled to sub- 
sist and undergo far more fatigue, under the tropical sun of Mexico, than 
our northern laborers in the northern latitudes, with the free use of animal 
food. I have not unfrequently been forty hours in ascending the Tobasco 
river to the capital, a distance of about seventy-five miles, in one of their 
canoes, against a current of from three to four miles an hour ; the men 
poling the canoe (a very laborious employment) sixteen hours out of the 
twenty-four. Those who abstain from the use of ardent spirits are muscu- 
lar and strong ; and among them are to be found models for the sculptor." 

277. Sir Francis Head informs us, that immense loads are carried by 
the South American miners, though fed entirely on grain and pulse. " It 
is usual for the copper-miners of Central Chili to carry loads of ore of 200 
lbs. weight up eighty perpendicular yards twelve times a day. When they 
reach the mouth of the pit they are in a state of apparent fearful exhaus- 
tion, covered with perspiration, their chests heaving, yet after briefly rest- 
ing they descend again. Their diet is entirely vegetable : breakfast con- 
sists of sixteen figs and two small loaves of bread ; dinner, boiled beans ; 
supper, roasted wheat grain. They scarcely ever taste meat ; yet on this 
simple diet they perform a labor that would almost kill many men." The 
diet of the ASghan consists of bread, curdled milk, and water. He lives 
in a climate which often produces in one day extreme heat and cold ; he 
will undergo as much fatigue, and exert as much strength, as the porters 
of London, who are fed on flesh and ale ; neither is he subject to their acute 
and obstinate disorders."* 

278. " The Spaniards of Rio Salada, in South America, — who come 
down from the interior, and are employed in transporting goods overland, 

* Dr. Dick's Miscellanea Medica. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 183 

— live wholly on vegetable food. They are large, very robust, and strong ; 
and bear prodigious burdens on tlieir backs — such as require three or four 
men to place upon them — in knapsacks made of green hides : and these 
enormous burdens they will carry fifty miles into the country ; travelling 
over mountains too steep for loaded mules to ascend, and with a speed which 
few of the generality of men can equal without any encumbrance." 

279. " The slaves of Brazil are a very strong and robust class of men, 
and of temperate habits. Their food consists of rice, fruits, and bread of 
coarse flour, and from the farrenia root. They endure great hadships, and 
carry enormous burdens on then- heads a distance of from a quarter of a 
mile to a mile, without resting. It is a common thing to see them in droves 
or companies, moving on at a brisk trot, stimulated by the sound of a bell 
in the hands of the leader ; and each man bearing upon his head a bag 
of coffee weighing a hundred and eighty pounds, apparently as if it were 
a light burden. They also carry barrels of flour, and even barrels of beef 
and pork, upon their heads. They are seldom known to have a fever, or 
any other sickness. The Congo slaves of Rio Janeiro subsist on vegeta- 
ble food, and are among the finest-looking men in the world. They are 
six feet high, every way well proportioned, and remarkably athletic. The 
laborers of Laguayi^a eat no flesh, and are an uncommonly healthy and 
hardy race. A single man will take a barrel of beef or pork on his 
shoulders, and walk with it from the landing to the custom-house, which is 
situated upon the top of a hill, the ascent of which is too steep for car- 
riages. Their soldiers, likewise, subsist on vegetable food, and are remark- 
ably fine-looking men."* 

280. An officer of a frigate who had been at the Sandwich Islands has 
declared, that our sailors stood no chance in boxing with the natives, who 
fight precisely in the English manner. A quartermaster, a very stout man, 
and a skilful boxer, indignant at seeing his companions knocked about with 
so little ceremony, determined to try a round or two with one of the stoutest 
of the natives, although strongly dissuaded fi-omthe attempt by his oflficers. 
The blood of the native islander being warmed by the opposition of a few 
minutes, he broke through all the guards of his antagonist, seized him by 
the thigh and shoulder, threw him up, and held him with extended arms 
over his head for a minute, in token of triumph, and then dashed him on 
the deck with such violence as to fracture his skull. The gentleman added, 
that he never saw men apparently possessed of such muscular strength 
Our stoutest sailors appeared mere shrimps compared with them. Their 
mode of life, constantly in vigorous action in the open air, and undebili 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. il., p, 207. 



184 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

tated by the use of stimulating food or drink, may be considered as a 
perpetual state of training.* 

281. In 1823, General Yaldez, a Peruvian general, led his army from 
near Lima to the southward of Arequipa, — a distance of two hundred 
and fifty leagues, or seven hundred and fifty miles, — in eleven days ; or 
more than sixty-eight miles a day, for eleven da; s in succession ; and, at 
the close of this forced march, met and routed the patriot army, which 
was much larger than his own. During this march, the soldiers subsisted 
on the parched corn which they took in their pockets. " These Peru- 
vians," says a highly intelligent gentleman, who has spent twenty years 
among them, " are a more hardy race, and will endure more fatigue and 
privation than any other people in the world. They subsist wholly on 
vegetable food ; and, being very improvident, their diet is generally coarse 
and scanty. Parched corn is their principal, and generally their exclusive 
article of food, when engaged in any particular enterprise or effort which 
requires great activity and power of body : at other times, they subsist on 
such of the various products of their climate as they happen to have at 
hand. In travelling, and in many other respects, the women are quite 
equal to the men in muscular power and agility." 

282. Examples might be multiplied, from all parts of the world, of peo- 
ple living entirely upon vegetable food, and enjoying perfect health and 
bodily vigor ; but perhaps none are more striking than those we have in 
close proximity to us. " The chairmen, porters, and coalheavers, the 
strongest men in the British dominions, are said to be, the greater part of 
them, from the lowest rank of people in Ireland, which are generally fed 
with the potato. No food can afford a more decisive proof of its nourish- 
ing quality, or of its being peculiarly suitable to the health of the human 
constitution."! This remark has been amply confirmed by the recent 
experiments of Professor Forbes on the weight, height, and strength of 
above eight hundred individuals ; his tables clearly showing that the Irish 
are more developed than the Scotch at a given age, and the English less. 
The Rev. Howard Malcolm, of Boston, — who has travelled extensively in 
Europe, Asia, and America, — says : " The finest specimens of the human 
body I ever beheld, I saw in Ireland ; and they had never tasted animal 
food." Many English farmers, who have been in the habit of employing 
the natives of the Emerald Isle, bear testimony to the fact, that those who 
are steady, and refrain from spirituous liquors, are indefatigable ; and are 
capable of performing a much greater amount of agricultural labor, on 

* Sir John Sinclair's Code of Health anc| Longevity, 
t Smith's Wealth of Nations, vol. 1., p. 222. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 185 

their simple meal of potatoes and buttermilk, than the English laborer, 
though feeding- on abundance of flesh-meat. 

283. The miners in Cornwall are remarkably strong, well made, and 
laborious : their chief food is potatoes. Douglass, in his description of the 
East Coast of Scotland, says — " The common food of the country people 
on the east coast of Scotland is oatmeal, milk, and vegetables ; chiefly red 
cabbage in the winter season, and cole worts for the summer and spring." 
At ten or twelve miles' distance from a town, flesh is never seen in the 
houses of the common farmers, except at a baptism, a wedding, Christmas, 
or Shrovetide. Yet they are " strong and active, sleep sound, and live to 
a good old age." He gives " a farmer's bill of fare for a day ;" which is 
curious, and does not contain a particle of animal food. " The usual diet 
of laborers, in the parish of South Taunton, Devonshire, is milk and pota- 
toes, barley or wheaten bread, and occasionally a little bacon." " Bread 
and cheese, potatoes and milk porridge, and a thick flummery, made of 
coarse oatmeal, are the usual diet of the laboring people in Pembroke- 
shire."* 

284. Mr. Brindley, a celebrated canal engineer in this country, informs 
us, that in the various works in which he has been engaged — where the 
workmen, being paid by the piece, each exerted himself to earn as much as 
possible — men from the north of Lancashire and Yorkshire, who adhered 
to their customary diet of oat-cake and hasty-pudding, with water for 
their drink, sustained more labor and made greater wages than those v/ho 
lived on bread, cheese, bacon, and beer — the general diet of laborers in 
the South. I am aware that statements have been made which seem to 
contradict what Mr, Brindley here affirms to be true. It has been said that 
Frenchmen, when employed in the forming of canals and raiVoads, have 
not been able to compete at all with the English, till they hav*'^ begun to 
eat animal food and to drink beer. Perhaps the work was at first new to 
them ; and habit, rather than food, might effect the change. It is not 
denied, however, that a more stimulating diet might excite them to more 
strenuous exertions ; and as they became more accustomed to their work, 
they would perform it with much greater ease ; and although a man on 
vegetable diet might not accomplish so much in a short space of time as a 
man living on more exciting food ; it is nevertheless certain, that if their 
constitutional stamina be equal, the former will bear a continuance of 
labor much longer than the latter ; and, by his steady and unremitting 
exertions, will in the end perform a much greater amount of work. 

285. That animal food, or a mixed diet, is also sufficient to produce 

* Sir F. M. Eden's State of the Poor. 



186 BEST FOOD OF MAN 



great bodily strength and vigor, cannot be denied. The examples already 
adduced are merely for the purpose of showing that a vegetable diet is not 
inconsistent with these qualities ; and abundant evidence yet remains to 
prove the superiority of a diet of fruit and farinaceous substances over one 
of animal food. But that the latter diet does not invariably produce 
strength and vigor, we have sufficient evidence in the inhabitants of both 
North and South latitudes. The Esquimaux and Fuegiaus, the Lapland- 
ers, Samoides, Ostiacs, Tungooses, Burats, and Kamtschatdales, though 
living almost exclusively on animal food, are the smallest, weakest, and 
least brave people of the globe. This part of the subject may be concluded 
with a few instances of individuals who have either never eaten anunal 
food, or subsequently discontinued its use. 

286. " The yeomanry and laboring poor, throughout the greater part of 
Westmoreland and Cumberland, live altogether without animal food. Even 
substantial statesmen, as they are there called, who cultivate their own 
land, do not see a piece of flesh-meat at their table, for weeks or months 
together. Their chief diet is potatoes, milk, and oat-cakes ; wheaten bread 
being almost as great a variety as beef or mutton."* 

287. Judge Woodruff, to whom I have previously alluded, (267,) relates 
an interesting anecdote of a Greek youth, a native of Thessaly, about nine- 
teen years of age, who subsisted on the plainest, simplest, and coarsest 
vegetable food ; mostly in a natural state, and chiefly fruit. " On our 
passage home from Greece," says he, " we encountered a number of severe 
gales, in which all the sailors were obliged to exert themselves to the 
utmost. During these times, onr Greek boy, John of Thessaly, displayed the 
most astonishing agility and muscular power. He would run out on the 
rigging ; and, hanging by one leg, he would handle the sails v/ith a degree 
of strength which seemed ahnost supernatural : although the storm was 
severe, and the sea rough, yet he would often swing so as to describe a con- 
siderable part of a circle, and it appeared impossible for any creature to 
hold fast. I witnessed these exploits with painful dread, expecting every 
moment to see him shaken from the rigging into the ocean ; but he felt 
perfectly secure, and even loved the sport, and seemed proud to be daring. 
One day, while we were sailing under a pleasant breeze, and nothing for 
the hands to do, the men amused themselves in performing various feats ; 
and, among other things, they tried to lift a cannon which was lying upon 
the deck. We had among the crew one very large, stout-built, powerful 
man, a native of Kentucky, who went by the name of ' big Charlie.' He 
prided himself in his strength : and, after several others had tried in vain to 

* Eitson on Animal Food. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 187 

lift the gun, he took hold, and laid out his whole strength ; but did not stir 
it. He changed his position ; and tried the second and the third time» 
with all his might ; but was not able to move the gun at all. After big 
Charlie had given up, and all supposed, of course, that it was entirely use- 
less for any one else on board to try, the Greek boy, John, who had been 
idly looking on, came up lazily, and took hold of the gun ; and — to the 
utter amazement of the whole crew — he, with apparent ease, raised it up 
full two inches from the deck, and laid it down again. The astonished 
spectator^ could not believe their own eyes ; and, to satisfy them there was 
no deception about it, he raised it up the second time. This feat appeared 
so extraordinary to me, that I could not divest myself of the suspicion that 
there might be some peculiar sleight in it ; and — as I had been, in my 
prime, a pretty stout man — I thought I would try my own hand at it. I 
accordingly watched my opportunity, when no one was present to witness 
my attempt ; and, taking hold of the gun in the manner the Greek boy had 
done, I exerted all my strength ; but I could no more move it than if it 
had been riveted to the deck."" 

288. The celebrated Lord Heathfield, who defended the fortress of Gib- 
raltar with such consummate skill and persevering fortitude, was well known 
for his hardy habits of military discipline. He neither ate animal food nor 
drank wine ; his constant diet being bread and vegetables, and his drink 
water ; and he never slept more than four hours in the twenty-four. " My 
health," says Mr. Jackson, a distinguished surgeon in the British army, 
" has been tried in all ways and climates ; and, by the aids of temperance 
and hard work, I have worn out two armies in two wars, and probably 
could wear out another, before my period of old age arrives. I eat no ani- 
mal food, drink no wine or malt liquors, nor spirits of any kind. I wear 
no flannel ; and regard neither wind nor rain, heat nor cold, when business 
is in the way." 

289. " Thomas Jackson, a laboring man of Nantucket, has never eaten 
any flesh, though he sometimes eats fish. He informed me, a short time 
since," says Mr. William Macy, " that he had never been sick, never felt 
any of the aches and pains of which others complain, and never experi- 
enced any painful weariness from labor. He said he could work all day 
and all night, if necessary, without any considerable sense of fatigue. I 
have known him go into the field in the morning, and labor through the 
day, and come in at evening and eat his supper, and go into the oil-mill 
and work ail night, and then go into the field again in the morning, with- 
out a moment's sleep, and work all day ; and yet, at the close of the second 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 214. 



188 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

day, he assured me that he felt no oppressive sense of weariness or ex- 
haustion. He observed to me that he had several brothers, all of whom ate 
flesh freely ; and, said he, I am worth the whole of them to endure labor, 
privation, and exposure. He is uncommonly nimble and active." 

290. " Thomas McGoodin, a laboring man in the Callender Factory, in 
Providence, is about forty years old, (February, 1834,) small frame, and 
weighs about 9 st. 4 lbs. From religious considerations he was induced, 
about 1825, to abandon the use of animal food, and adopt the most simple 
vegetable diet, and water to drink. After living in this way about seven 
years, and laboring hard, a competition arose in the beetling department 
of the factory, in which the ability of the laborers to endure powerful and 
protracted effort was severely tried. Two stations, requiring precisely the 
same exertion, were to be occupied for several days in succession. Mc- 
Goodin took one of these stations, and occupied it through the whole time 
without flagging in the least ; while the other station was successively 
occupied by three or four of the strongest men in the establishment ; all of 
whom were actually tired out, and obliged to be relieved. The overseer 
of the department declared that he believed McGoodin would kill every 
man in the establishment, if they were obliged to hold their way with him 
till he gave out. McGoodin also labored from one to two hours longer 
than any other man." 

291. Dr. Joshua Porter says : " One of my neighbors has taken no flesh 
for more than three years. He is of the ordinary height, and san' ^me 
temperament, and usually weighed, when he ate flesh, 180 lbs. After he 
changed his diet, his countenance began to change and his cheeks feU in, 
and his meat-eating friends had serious apprehensions that he would sur- 
vive but a short time, unless he returned to his former habits. But he 
persevered, and is now more vigorous and more athletic than any man in 
the region, or than he himself has ever been before. His muscular strength 
is very great. A few days since, (October 26, 1827,) a number of the most 
athletic young men in our village (North Brookfield) were trying their 
strength at lifting a cask of lime weighing 500 lbs. All ftiiled to do it, 
with the exception of one, who partly raised it from the ground. After 
they were gone, this vegetable-eater, without any difficulty, raised the cask 
four or five times. He now weighs 165 lbs." 

292. Dr. Lambe states that in his case there was an increase of strength, 
and the pulse became much more full and strong than under the use of 
animal food ; it was also perfectly calm and regular. A correspondent of 
Dr. Lambe's, who had adopted the vegetable diet in his family, says : "After 
persisting near four years in the use of a strict vegetable diet and distilled 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 189 

water, I am happy to give my decided testimony in favor of your system. 
Its effects have been a gradual and important strengthening of the consti- 
tution, without any inconvenience or disagreeable symptom. I found the 
change easy and pleasant, and have never had the least wish to resume the 
use of animal food. I have always used much exercise ; I have found my 
power of bearing fatigue increased, and have never, during the whole time, 
felt the slightest indisposition." Previously to this gentleman abstaining 
from animal food, his health had always been good ; and he gives similar 
testimony as to the effects of the diet upon his children — twelve, ten, and 
five years of age. 

' 293. All the examples hitherto presented are of the male sex ; bat 
instances are not wanting to show that a diet of vegetable food is equally 
beneficial in its influence on the health of females ; and to them, generally, 
' it is more essential than to men. Professor Lawrence says : " I was myself 
acquainted with a lady who, from a kind of whim, began to live on vegeta- 
bles. She was in good health, and it was not necessary at all for her to 
give up her ordinary habits of life. She took a fancy, however, to live in 
this way : she took nothing but distilled water, fruit, and vegetables ; 
without tasting animal substance, except the milk she took in her tea, for 
several years. I never knew a more active person ; she made nothing of 
walking ten miles, and could walk, with ease, twenty. She had two 
children during the time I knew her, and suckled them for about twelve 
months each ; during which time she only took what I have mentioned — 
vegetables and fruit to eat, and distilled water to drink — taking nothing 
stronger than tea, or tea mixed with milk ; yet they were fine healthy 
children." 

294. At Salford, in Lancashire, there is a religious community, under 
the denomination of Bible Christians, who, from religious motives, abstain 
from animal food ; and their minister, the Rev. John Booth Strettles, has 
kindly answered many inquiries which I made respecting the health, &c., 
of the members of that society. He observes : "As to your fii'st question, 
respecting the health and strength of those who adopt the vegetable diet, 
I have had no reason — I have neither seen nor heard of any — to doubt that 
in strength they are equal, if not superior, to those who live on flesh diet ; 
while in health, as far as my experience and observation go, they greatly 
excel them. During the thirty-four years which I and others with me have 
abstained from flesh-meat and intoxicating liquor, I have known no injury 
to arise from such abstinence, either to young or old." This testimony is 
worthy of especial notice ; as, in the society to which it refers, there must 



190 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

be members of all ages, of great variety of constitution, and of all occupa- 
tions. 

295. Since the publication of the first edition of this work, the " Vege- 
tarian Society" has been established, and the members held their first con- 
ference at Eamsgate, on the 30th of September, 1847, Joseph Brotherton, 
Esq., M. P., presiding. Although so recently constituted, the list of mem- 
bers published J«anuary 1, 1848, comprised as follows : 

Ladies, 110 

Member of Parliament, ----- 1 

County Magisti-ates, ------ 2 

Aldermen, ------- 2 

Physicians and Surgeons, ----- 9 

Ministers of Keligion, ----- 3 

Authors, ....... 2 

Professional Men, .-.--- 12 

Merchants and Manufacturers, . . . . Q 

Farmers, ---.--- 3 

Tradesmen, Mechanics,, &c., - - - - 122 

Private Gentlemen, ----- 2 

The following table shows their respective periods of abstinence from 
the flesh of animals : 



40 years, 


1 


30 " - 


71 


20 " 


58 


10 " 


44 


1 " 


64 


1 month, - 


27 



265 

On the 1st of January, 1849, the number of members was 376. No less 
than 76 of the members have abstained from the flesh of animals the whole 
of their lives. The first annual meeting of the Society was held at Man- 
chester, on the 28th July, 1848, when much interesting and practical 
information was elicited from the members present ; and it is to be hoped 
that their future records will comprise a valuable fund of statistical facts, 
which may be of great service to future inquirers. Mr. Thomas Taylor, 
who was in his sixty-first year, had abstained from animal food during 
thirty-five years, and observed, that he had stood more hard labor than the 
generality of working-men. One gentleman present, seventy-three years 
of age, had walked 4,941 miles within the preceding twenty-one months, 
besides working in his garden during his leisure hours. " The wife of 
another gentleman at the meeting had abstained from flesh, and all intox- 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 191 

icating drinks, for thirty years, had given birth to fifteen children during 
that time, fourteen out of the fifteen she had suckled, and yet remained 
hale, young, and happy-looking." The general opinion, therefore, that 
physical strength cannot be maintained on a fruit and farinaceous diet, is 
undoubtedly wrong, and cannot have been formed from long experience, 
or from a proper examination of the subject. A few days' trial of a less 
stimulating diet than usual will certainly induce a person to suppose that 
it is debilitating : but if he persevere for a few months upon food judi- 
ciously selected, and take proper exercise, he will find no reason to com- 
plain of any diminution of his usual vigor. 



CHAPTER Y. 



CLIMATE AND TEMPERATUEE. 



296. The numerous references already made to men living on vegetable 
productions, in all climates, whether hot or cold, and engaged in all kinds 
of occupations, and yet enjoying health and strength, may be regarded as a 
sufficient refutation of the opinion that human diet should vary with the 
climate in which a man resides. It is true that a diet of animal food will 
agree much better with a person living in a cold climate, and taking a 
considerable amount of muscular exercise, than with one residing in a hot 
climate, and leading an inactive life ; but it is also equally true, that a. diet of 
fruit and farinacea is conducive to the highest and most complete develop- 
ment of man, physically, mentally, and morally, in cold countries as well as 
in hot ; and, ^' all other things being precisely equal, the man who is fully 
accustomed to a pure vegetable diet can endure severer cold, or bear the 
same degree of cold much longer than the man who is fully accustomed to 
a flesh-diet. Reasoning from false notions derived from mere momentary 
sensation, mankind long clung to the opinion that alcoholic liquor would 
enable them better to endure both heat and cold ; and although modern 
experiments are beginning to set them right concerning alcohol, yet they 
blindly cherish the idea that flesh-meat is better for them in cold regions 
than vegetable food ; without pausing to consider, that while it actually 
affords them less real and permanent nourishment, it stimulates them more 
and exliausts the vital powers of their organs more rapidly ; and therefore, 



192 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

in all that it differs in its effects from vegetable food, it approaches more to 
the character of alcohol."* 

297. We have seen that in Norway, Russia, and other cold portions of 
the globe, the people who subsist on coarse vegetable food are exceedingly 
hardy and vigorous ; and it has been stated, by gentlemen who have spent 
many months in Siberia, that no exiles to that wintry region endure the 
severities of the climate better than those who have been all their lives 
accustomed to a simple vegetable diet. Not to depend exclusively on a 
statement of facts, let us briefly inquire how far recent discoveries in 
organic chemistry substantiate the view here taken. 

298. It is universally admitted, that food abounding in carbon and 
hydrogen is absolutely necessary to the inhabitants of cold climates, in order 
to support animal heat ; and though it is acknowledged that starch, and 
other amylaceous and saccharine substances, do not contain so large a pro- 
portion of these elements as animal fat and oils, yet they contain much 
more than the flesh or muscle of animals ; and are therefore better adapted 
to the circumstances of a man in a cold climate, than what is generally 
understood by an animal or mixed diet. Many vegetables also abound in 
oil ; as almonds, nuts, olives, chocolate, &c., which, -svith farinaceous sub- 
stances, w^ould sufficiently support respiration ; besides, it has not yet been 
proved that all the animal heat is produced by the oxygenation of carbon 
and hydrogen. 

299. It has been shown (200) that the non-azotized principles of vege- 
table food are easily converted into fat, by a separation of oxygen ; or 
transformed into protein, water, and oxygen, by a union with the nitrogen 
of the atmosphere ; or resolved, by vital chemistry, into carbonic acid and 
other compounds ; by which processes caloric is evolved. It is clear, there- 
fore, that upon vegetable diet the animal heat ought to be higher (caeteris 
paribus) than upon a flesh or mixed diet, from which fat and oils are excluded. 
But if farinaceous articles of diet cannot be procured in high latitudes, or if 
the persons residing there have not been accustomed to that kind of food, 
then undoubtedly animal oils and fat are the only substances that can be 
substituted for them ; the flesh of lean animals being inadequate to their 
support, except at the expense of immense bodily exertion, to cause a 
sufficient waste of tissue for the purpose of supplying the carbon necessary 
for uniting with the oxygen of the atmosphere to produce animal heat. 

300. Certain individuals, however, after adopting a vegetable diet, think 
that they feel more chilly and cold than when on a mixed diet ; others find 
no alteration in this respect. The difference in the experience of various 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. il., p. 278. 



B£iST FOOD OF MAN. 193 

individuals may probably be thus explained. Vegetable food being less 
stimulating than the ordinary diet of this country, and less oxygen being 
requisite for respiration upon the former, in consequence of the liberation 
of that element from the food during the process of digestion, muscular 
activity is less required of a person adopting the former diet ; and, very 
frequently, the habits become more sedentary under it ; though this is by 
no means a necessary consequence. Hence the various secretions of the 
body are formed less rapidly ; and, as caloric is developed by all chemical 
changes, its absolute quantity will vary with the amount of organic trans- 
formations that are constantly taking place. Many persons, also, when 
making this change of diet, form at the same time the salutary habit of 
cold sponging ; and, by thus freeing the pores of the skin from feculent 
matter, permit a much greater amount of caloric to escape : active exer- 
cise, therefore, should invariably accompany cold ablutions, to restore the 
equilibrium of temperature. 

301. But " the power of generating heat," as Sir John Eoss* ascertained 
from long experience, " varies exceedingly in diifereut individuals ; and is 
as much a portion of the original constitution as are the muscular or the 
mental energies." " This at least seems certain, that men of the largest 
appetites and most perfect digestion produce the most heat ; as feeble 
stomachs, whether dyspeptic, as it is termed, or merely unable to receive 
much food, are subject to suJBTer the most from cold ; never generating heat 
enough to resist its impressions." 

302. In answer to an inquiry on this subject, respecting the influence of 
vegetable food on the members of the religious society called "Bible 
Christians," the Rev. J. B. Strettles says : " I know not that any have 
made any change in their dress, in consequence of adopting the change of 
diet; nor that they have discovered any thing like a decrease of heat, 
arising from that change, to induce them to think it necessary." 

303. In conclusion, I can with truth affirm that, after thirteen years' 
trial of an exclusively vegetable diet, I feel no inconvenience from the 
change of the seasons, though I am more thinly clad than formerly ; and 
my present immunity from coughs and colds, to which I was very subject, 
may probably be attributed to the joint influence of a natural diet and 
daily sponging or bathing with cold water.^^ 

[Note 27. It is not yet proven that oily food, either of an animal or 
vegetable nature, is essential to the generation of a due supply of animal 
l^oat m cold climates. All the evidence as yet rests upon the mere 

* Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage, p. 128 
9 



194 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

assumptions of a few chemists. But these chemists, especially Liebig and 
Pereira, place alcohol, as well as oil, among the " respiratory foods," : 
because it, as well as oil, contains a large proportion of carbon. The 
manifest absurdity of such a conclusion is presumptive evidence against 
the philosophy of the theory. The truth probably is this : the ordinary 
farinaceous foods and fruits contain all the carbon and hydrogen requi- 
site to sustam the animal heat in all climates and under all circumstances 
of temperature : and if ever surplus carbon or hydrogen is taken into the 
system, it is of course thrown off; and when considerable of an amount 
of surplus carbon and hydrogen is taken, the labor of expelling it is , 
attended with a feverish excitement, which, instead of warming the body ; 
permanently, only wastes its energies, and renders it colder in the end. ' 
All human experience proves this to be true in relation to alcohol ; and I 
cannot see why this explanation does not just as well apply to any sub- 
stance which contains a large proportion of carbon or hydrogen, or both, ij 
with very little nutriment. T.] ' 



CHAPTER YI. 

INFLUENCE OF AZOTIZED FOOD IN THE PRODUCTION OF CERTAIN DISEASES. 

Si tibi deficiant medici, medici tibi fiant 

Haec tria ; mens hilaris, requies, moderata diaeta. — Schola Sales. 

304. As health depends, primarily, upon a sound constitution, or fitness 
of the bodily organs to perform the functions assigned to them, and, seo- 
ondarily, upon a proper relation between those organs and external objects, 
so disease is the consequence of organic defects, or the want of relation 
between external matter and the organs, or of both ; so that the processes 
of decay and renewal are interrupted, or imperfectly performed. Func- 
tional disarrangement, therefore, affords the first indications of the com- 
mencement of disease ; and although, in certain conditions of the atmo- 
sphere, the healthiest person may be subject to epidemic infection, yet were 
all the physiological laws of health strictly observed by persons of origi- 
nally sound constitutions, they would seldom suffer from disease. 

305. The principal avenues through which external agents influence 
organic life, for good or for ill, are the stomach, the lungs, and the skin or 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 195 

general surface : the two latter require iu this place no notice ; our atten- 
tion, therefore, will be confined to the former. It has already been shown, 
in part, (though the subject admits of much further elucidation,) that the 
teeth, salivary glands, stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, the whole of the 
alimentary canal, and even the kidneys, lungs, and skin, as well as all the 
other organs of the body, bear a determinate relation to each other, and to 
the natural food of the animal. Various and wonderful are the contri- 
vances and adaptations of nature, for removing from the system any for- 
eign matler that may make its way into the blood, as well as any excess 
of such substances as are natural to it, which food improper as to quality 
or quantity may be the means of introducing. Nay, even so provident is 
nature, that when men absurdly persist in supplying the stomach with food 
that is uimatural, whether solid or liquid, the increased action to which any 
organ is excited, in order to rid the system of what is injurious, gradually 
enlarges the organ itself ; so that it may the more energetically and effi- 
ciently perform the additional duty imposed upon it. But this can take 
place only within certain limits ; and, in a great many instances, functional 
and finally structural disarrangement is the consequence of over-stimu- 
lation. 

306. Without entering further into the nature of disease or its causes, 
■- ive may show — 1. That too stimulating a diet, or one that is unnatural in 

quality or quantity, is a very general cause of functional disorder. 2. That 
an abstemious diet of fruit, grain, and other farinaceous vegetables is, in 
general, the surest means of restoration to health. Let it, however, be 
clearly understood, that improper food is not considered the only means of 
introducing disease ; inattention to exercise, pure air, cleanliness, the cuta- 
neous and other excretions, together with a number of acquired and unnatu- 
ral habits, may be equally effective in destroying health ; and a man who 
lives temperately upon a mixed diet of animal and vegetable food, and is 
at the same time regular in other sanitary habits, will enjoy a far greater 
share of health, and be less liable to epidemic diseases, than the man who 
adheres strictly to a vegetable diet, but neglects all other physiological 
laws. 

307. If fruit, and other products of the vegetable kingdom, be the natu- 
ral food of man, of which much evidence has already been adduced, it is 
reasonable to conclude, a priori, that all the functions of the human frame 
will be best maintained in healthy action upon this diet ; and the most 
readily restored by it to a normal state, when functional power has been 
weakened : and many eminent medical practitioners entertain this opmion. 

308. " The effects of animal food, and other noxious matter," observes 



196 BE8TF00D0FMAN 

Dr. Lambe, " of inducing and accelerating fatal disease, are not immediate, 
but ultimate eflects. 1'lie immediate effect is to engender a diseased habit 
or state of constitution : not enough to impede the ordinary occupations 
of life, but, in many, to render life itself a long-continued sickness ; and to 
make the great mass of society morbidly susceptible of many passing 
impressions, which would have no injurious influence upon healthy sys- 
tems." (239.) 

309. " Food in excess," says Dr. Clarke, " or of a kind too exciting for 
the digestive organs, may induce tubercular cachexia ; — a circumstance 
which is not sufficiently attended to, I may say not generally understood, 
even by medical men. Nevertheless, I hold it to be a frequent cause of 
scrofula ; and believe that it produces the same effect on the system as a 
deficient supply." Dr. Buchan observes : " Consumptions, so common in 
England, are in part owing to the great use of animal food ;" and Dr. 
Lambe is of opinion, that scrofula and other diseases are frequently attri- 
butable to the same cause. 

310. Abernethy says : "Animal substances are changed into a putrid, 
abominable, and acrid stimulus ;" which was verified by Sir Edward 
Berry, who prevailed upon a man to live on partridges without vegetables ; 
but, after eight days' ti'ial, he was obliged to desist, in consequence of 
strong symptoms then appearing of an incipient putrefaction. " Errors in 
diet are the great source of disease : amendment of diet is the basis of 
recovery. The majority of our maladies medicine may relieve or suspend ; 
but, without the aid of regimen, can never cure."* 

311. Many believe that the abuse of animal food, as an article of diet, 
is connected with the introduction of certain diseases; some of which 
appear to be of modern date, and are yet unknown in many parts of the 
globe. Dr. Sigmond, in his work on mercury, &c., says : " It is stated that 
our living on animal food is the cause of the greater number of diseases to 
which man is subject." Dr. Alphonsus Lercy, of Paris, has just published 
an essay on certain diseases of men, which he traces to the animals on 
which they had fed ; and he establishes the doctrine generally, that many 
diseases with which mankind are afilicted are communicated by eating the 
flesh of animals. 

312. Measles are a complaint of recent origin ; scarlatini still more 
recent ; the latter having made its first appearance only two centuries age. 
The small-pox is of no very ancient date ; since Hippocrates, Galen, and 
the other Greek physicians, give it no place in their nosological histories ; 
the first account of it being in the works of the Arabian physicians. We 

* Thackrah's "Lectures on Digestion and Diet," p. 108. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 197 

learn from Barrow's Travels,* that, to this day. Southern Africa is wholly 
exempt from smail-pox and canine madness. No writer mentions scurvy 
before Strabo, who tells us, that it broke out for the first time in Augus- 
tus's reign, at which period we know how luxurious the Romans had 
become.f The spontaneous origin of these and all other diseases, at some 
time or other, cannot be doubted ; but by what combination of circum- 
stauces, or what influence an improper and unnatural diet has had in pro- 
ducing them, it is perhaps impossible to determine. 

313. Diseases of the liver are much more common where a flesh-diet 
abounds. Dr. Copland informs us, that " eating largely or frequently, 
especially of animal, rich, and highly-seasoned food, stimulating the appe- 
tite by a variety of incongruous dishes and sauces, and spices and wines, 
particularly in warm countries and seasons, are most influential causes of 
these disorders. It is probably owing to such full and stimulating diet," 
continues he, " that hepatic diseases are more common in the officers than 
in the troops serving in the West Indies."J (202.) Perhaps the fable 
before alluded to, of the vulture devouring the liver of Prometheus — who 
is said to have been the first to use fire and animal food — may be intended 
to represent the effects produced upon that organ by the free use of flesh 
and its usual accompaniment, spirituous liquors. It is not improbable that 
the fibrous growtlis and hypertrophy of tissues are owing to the excess of 
fibrin supplied by animal food. The late Dr. Graham, of Edinburgh, was 
of opinion that intemperate butchers, those who Vv^ere hired by the master 
butchers as slaughterers and assistants, were particularly prone to purpura 
haemorrhagica. This class of individuals in Edinburgh is almost invaria- 
bly addicted to drinking large quantities of ardent spirits, and lives chiefly 
on animal food. J. Wardell, M.D., also met with instances confirmatory 
of this opinion. g 

314. " The man who forsakes not the law, and eats not flesh-meat like a 
bloodthirsty demon, shall attain good-will in this world, and shall not be 
aflSicted with maladies." || " It is to be remarked," says Sir John Sinclair, 
" in favor of vegetable aliment, that it has no tendency to produce any 
constitutional disorders, as happens from animal food, and any efiects it may 
have upon the body are almost entirely confined to the stomach and bowels, 
and seldom carry any injurious eSect to the system at large. Its effects 
hardly ever appear in the bloodvessels." And, again : "Animal food is 

* 7oL i., p. 408. t Newton's "Eetum to JNature," p. 183. 

X Medical Dictionary, article " Climate." 

§ Prov. Med. and Surg. Journal, No. 5, 1849. 

I " Laws of Menu," In the "Works of Sir "William Jones, vol. lii. p 206. 



198 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

certainly more dangerous, and, in some respects, more wasting than vcgt;- 
table. By exciting temporary fever after every meal, the springs of life 
are urged into constant, preternatural, and weakening exertions." 

315. But it is by an abnormal production, or retention in the system, of 
certain acids and their compounds, with mineral and earthy matters, that 
many of the more common diseases arise ; and it may be clearly shown 
that it is to the highly azotized articles of diet, such as animal food, that 
the increased production of these acids is principally owing ; though an 
obstruction of the perspiration and other excretions may produce similar 
effects, by preventing the necessary elimination of those moderate quantities 
that result from the transformation of the tissues. 

316. The more formidable acids are the lactic, the lithic, and the oxalic, 
with their compounds. Now, when the excretory organs — as the skin, 
kidneys, liver, and lungs — perform their functions properly, all such acids, 
and their compounds, as are the result of the decomposition of the organic 
structure, are separated from the sytem ; and all the processes upon which 
life, health, and elasticity of mind depend, are uninterrupted. But there 
is another source of these acids ; namely, when the quantity of food exceeds 
the wants of the system, or when it is of a kind or quality not suited to 
the assimilating organs. When more azotized food is taken into the 
stomach than is necessary to supply the waste of the muscular and other 
azotized tissues, the digestive organs may be sufficiently active to effect the 
necessary conversion into chyle, and in this state it may be taken up by the 
lacteals ; but, as the blood becomes surcharged with elements of its com- 
position, the surplus, like that arising from daily decay, must be carried off 
by the excretory organs, particularly the liver, lungs, and kidneys, which 
(owing to the conjoint influence of external cold repelling the cutaneous 
exhalations, animal food, and spirituous liquors) are abnormally stimulated ; 
their functions are rendered more active, and their size frequently increased ; 
but, like many an over-worked laborer, they too frequently fail to effect all 
that is required of them, and sink under the additional duty they are called 
upon to perform. Hence a frightful catalogue of painful and dangerous 
diseases, so common in northern climates, where large portions of azotized 
food are consumed. 

317. Derangement of function may either terminate in disease of the 
organ itself, or the matter which it was formed for eliminating from the 
blood may excite a general fever or combine with other effete matters, and 
be deposited in other distant parts of the system, thus giving rise to local 
irritation and various acute disorders, such as gout, rheumatism, calculi, 
&c., which constitute what is usually called the lithic acid diathesis, so 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 1S9 

prevalent among those who indulge in large quantities of azotized and 
stimulating food without proportionate muscular exercise. " In such quan- 
tities is urate of soda often generated, that the watery portions of the blood 
are not sufficient for its solution, and part of it is deposited in the joints 
and sheaths of tendons, producing painful swellings.""^ " The subjects of 
these diseases," observes Miiller, " are generally persons who live well, and 
eat largely of animal food ; whilst most urinary calculi, f gravelly deposits, 
the gouty concretions, and the perspiration of gouty persons, contain an 
abundance of lithic acid — a substance into the composition of which 
nitrogen enters in large proportions. By diminishing the amount of azotized 
substances in the food, the gout and gravelly deposits in the urine may be 
prevented." % Again he says, " The lithic acid of the urine, which resem- 
bles urea in containing a greater proportion of nitrogen than any other 
organic substances, is derived, without doubt, at least in part, from the 
new nutritive matter which the blood derives from the food ; for its quan 
tity in the urine is increased by merely taking animal food, or substances 
containing a large proportion of nitrogen ; and in the urine of herbivorous 
mammalia it does not exist, being replaced by hippuric (urino-benzoic) 
acid." ^ " In birds fed with substances containing nitrogen, the excrements 
contain much less white matter, or uric acid, than when they are fed with 
white of egg. In the composition of the urine of herbivorous and carnivo- 
rous quadrupeds, there is a difiercnce corresponding with the difference of 
their food ; the urine in the former animals contains hippuric acid. The 
urine of birds generally contains super-lithate of ammonia, but the urine 
of birds feeding on vegetables contains no urea." || Dr. Willis takes the 
same view of the matter, and says, " The most efficient cause in engendering 
lithic acid is indulgence in large quantities of animal food." 

318. " Strumous, lithic acid, and gouty diseases," says Dr. Prout, 
"are all results of mal-assimilation of the albuminous principle, either 
primary or secondary, and often run into each other. Thus gout and 
struma or scrofula are frequently, if not always, associated ; and the gout 
and chalk-stones of old age may be considered as little more than modifica- 
tions of scrofulous tubercle of youth — both being alike formed from mal- 
assimilation of the albuminous or azotized principle." 

319. " That these diseases (gout, calculi, &c.) are, comparatively speak- 
ing, rare among the lower classes, is at once accounted for by the fact that 

* Dr. Golding Bird on Urinary Deposits, p. 76. 

t Uric acid forms the nucleus of by far the greater number of urinary calculi ; five-sevenths 
of those at Guy's Hospital are of this kind. 
X "Elements of Physiology," vol. 1. p. 527. 
§ lb., vol I., p. 161. [ lb., VOL i., p. 1C3. 



200 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

they do not take in any superfious azotized food — all that they consume 
being appropriated to the maintenance of their tissues, and the kidneys 
having only to discharge their proper function of removing from the blood 
the products of the decomposition of these." "* But as tubercular matter 
which gives rise to phthisis, scrofula, tabes, &c., is the result of imperfect 
conversion of food into organized matter, its presence in the system may 
arise from various other causes besides the superabundance of azotized 
food, particularly from lov/, innutritious diet, and from an unhealthy state 
of the secreting and excreting organs. 

320. Notwithstanding the apparent correctness of these views, and the 
Yast amount of additional evidence that might be adduced to substantiate 
them, certain chemists and physiologists have ventured to call them in 
question ; some, perhaps, from a misapprehension of the term " low diet," 
or from not having fully and fairly considered the claims which a well- 
selected vegetable diet has upon their attention ; and others from too hasty 
an adoption of certain theories or statements of Professor Liebig. 

321. Dr. W. Tyler Smith has lately written a work on scrofula, in which 
he freely animadverts on the poor and insufficient food in many of the 
Union Workhouses, and makes the following observations on the advantages 
of a mixed diet : " Prout and Majendie have shown, by reasoning and ex- 
periments, that a mixed diet of the different kinds of animal and vegetable 
food is the most conducive to health. Such an admixture of alimentary 
substances seems to amount to almost a positive law ; and is probably of 
more importance to those inclined to scrofula, than to any other class. 
Nevertheless, the children of the poor, and even of the rich, are often un- 
duly stinted in the use of animal food ; the one from the opinion that a 
vegetable and farinaceous diet is the most wholesome, the other from in- 
ability to procure a sufficiency of meat. There can be little question, look- 
ing at that state of the body which is most exposed to scrofula, that a 
purely vegetable diet — ^particularly in childhood, when the foundations of 
a weak or strong constitution can generally be laid — is most injudicious." 

322. The experiments of Majendie have already been examined, (213, 
&c. ;) and it has been shown that they warrant no such conclusion as t]ie 
above. We only learn from them that the unmixed proximate principles, 
whether derived from the animal or vegetable kingdom, are insufficient to 
support life ; and that sul3stances highly concentrated by artificial means 
are injurious to health. The experiments and reasoning of Dr. Prout 
certainly show the necessity for a due admixture of the aqueous, saccha- 
rine, albuminous, oleaginous, and perhaps ligneous principles, in human 

* Carpenter's "Animal Physiology," p. 272. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 201 

food ; but these are found in combination in the various fruits, grain, roots, 
&c., which have been previously shown to be the natural food of man ; 
and it is only when we attempt to refine upon nature, that these principles 
are separated. None of the observations of Dr. Prout, however, prove 
the necessity for a mixture of animal and vegetable matter in human food ; 
nor can it be shown from Anatomy, Chemistry, Physiology, or any of the 
kindred sciences, that for the preservation of health man requires either 
an animal or a mixed diet. 

323. That the children of the rich frequently suffer from feeding on too 
concentrated a diet, — such as preparations from the finest wheaten flour, 
arrow-root, &c., — there can be no question; but that their liability to 
scrofula, and other diseases, is consequent upon abstinence from animal' 
food, is by no means a warrantable inference. If Dr. Smith's view of the 
subject were correct, we might expect to find scrofula exceedingly preva- 
lent among the Hindoos, the Irish, the Scotch, and many other people in 
various latitudes, who either never or very seldom taste animal food ; and 
yet among these are found examples of the most robust health. Dr. Prout 
has shown, that mal-assimilation, which may occur under an animal, a vege- 
table, or a mixed diet, is frequently the exciting cause of tubercle. The 
inferior and unwholesome food, both of an animal and vegetable nature, 
upon which the poor are reduced to the necessity of feeding, may well be 
called " a low diet ;" though people in very humble circumstances prefer 
the finest flour, both for themselves and their children, as more economical. 
In the case of the adult poor, it is mixed with so many other things of an 
innutritions nature, that no ill consequences may result ; but to their young- 
children, when it constitutes the principal part of their nutriment, it must 
be injurious. 

324. Dr. Smith admits, that "fresh vegetables are of considerable 
importance in keeping the blood in a pure and wholesome condition, 
when the child has arrived at a proper age to digest any kind of 
food ;" and illustrates his remark by a reference to the prevalence of scro- 
fula among the boys of Christ's Hospital ; which he attributes chiefly to 
the absence of fresh vegetables from their dietary : their supply of animal 
food being good, both as regards quantity and quality. " Gross living," 
continues Dr. Smith, " is almost as influential as a poor diet in producing 
the disease, when the diathesis is highly developed. Scrofula is very com- 
mon among some of the children of the poor, who, are bloated from having 
a tolerable supply of food, and living without exercise, in confined apart- 
ments. Abundance of rich and stimulating food often renders strumous 
children so unwieldy as to prevent healthy exercise : it disorders the stomach 



202 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

and digestion, and vitiates the whole mass of fluids to such a degree, 
that blotches, or small indurations, form in different parts of the body, and 
produce scrofulous sores ; or the slightest scratch or wound, in such cases, 
instead of healing, will begin to discharge, and speedily acquire the scrofu- 
lous character. Nothing is more common than for such children to get 
strumous disease of the scalp, obstinate scrofulous ophthalmia, otorrhoea, 
or discharge from behind the ears, and sores upon the mouth. In many 
cases, it almost seems as if scrofulous sores were set up, as a means of con- 
suming the superfluous material which has been introduced into the body." 

325. These latter observations of Dr. Smith accord with those of I)r. 
Prout ; and there can be no doubt as to their correctness : for when mus- 
cular exercise is not proportionate to the amount of nutriment received, 
converted, and absorbed, nature is sure to set up some action to relieve the 
circulatory system from the excess ; but Dr. Smith has adduced no facts 
to prove that a scrofulous habit is ever the consequence of an exclusively 
vegetable diet, when of a proper kind and quality ; and if the account of 
the boys in Christ's Hospital may be depended upon, it is a proof of the 
injurious tendency of too animalized a diet. The diseases of the poor are 
attributable to many causes ; such as impure air, dirty habits, exposure to 
cold, and a scanty, low, innutritions diet ; consisting, frequently, of the 
worst quality of vegetable substances, and the offal of butcher's meat, 
perhaps rendered still more unwholesome by disease in the animal killed to 
supply it. 

326. The views propounded by liebig, respecting the ultimate destina- 
tion of azotized and non-azotized articles of diet in the animal economy, 
are thought by some to sanction the use of animal food, and particularly 
where the lithic acid diathesis prevails. He is of opinion, that the amount 
of azotized matter in the urine may be regarded as a measure of the do- 
composition which takes place in the azotized tissues ; and that the quan- 
tity of urea and lithic acid, the products of the metamorphosed tissues, 
increases with the rapidity of transformation in a given time, but hears r?o 
proportion to the amount of food taken in the same period. " There can be 
no greater contradiction," says he, '' than to suppose that the nitrogen of 
the food can pass into the urine as urea, without having previously become 
part of an organized tissue." He also believes, that the use of wines, fat, 
oil, and other non-azotized articles of food, prevents the oxygen of the 
atmosphere from combining with the uric acid, to form urea. He further 
observes : " Gravel and calculus occur in persons who use very little animal 
food. Concretions of uric acid have never yet been observed in carnivorous 
mammalia, living in the wild state ; and among nations which live entirely 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 203 

on flesh, deposits of uric acid concretions in the limbs or in the bladder 
are entirely unknown."* 

327. Eelying upon these views as firmly established, Dr. Bence Jones 
(in his work on gravel, calculus, and gout) recommends a diet principally 
of animal food in these diseases : it becomes, therefore, a matter of great 
importance to ascertain whether these opinions of Liebig are correct. 
That urea and lithic acid are, in a great measure, the result of the trans- 
formation of the tissues, and vary (ca^teris paribus) with the rapidity of 
decomposition; and that the quantity of lithic acid is increased by a 
deficient supply of oxygen, may be readily conceded : but that urea and 
lithic acid have no other origin than the transformation of the tissues, is 
certainly incorrect ; and that non-azotized articles of food favor the pro- 
duction of lithic acid, by combining v/ith the oxygen, is purely hypotheti- 
cal, and contradicted by facts. 

328. Majendie states that uric acid disappears from the urine of carni- 
vorous animals, fed for about three weeks on non-uitrogenized food. An- 
other fact mentioned by Professor Liebig to Dr. Bird, as having been 
lately observed at the hospital at "Wurzburg, is to the same effect : "A 
girl, laboring under what appears to have been some form of hysteria, 
refused all food, excepting apples, of which she devoured an enormous 
quantity. On examining her urine, it was found to be alkaline, and con- 
tained a large quantity of hippuric, but no uric acid — like the urine of a 
horse or cow."f Hippuric acid contains eighteen equivalents of carbon, 
but only one of nitrogen. 

329. It even seems more consistent with Liebig's own views to conclude 
that, as much oxygen is liberated by the chemical changes which take 
place durmg the digestion of non-azotized food, (200,) this very excess of 
oxygen may be esnployed in the conversion of uric acid into urea. His 
observations respecting concretions of lithic acid never having been found 
in carnivorous animals in the wild state, are equally applicable to herbi- 
vorous animals, when free and uncontrolled in their habits ; because they 
then live upon such substances as are adapted to their organization, and 
are not tempted by artificial preparations to take more than the wants of 
the system require. But man acts in a far diiFerent manner : he freely 
indulges in all the varieties of artificially prepared food, which are con- 
trived rather to gratify the palate than to satisfy the natural appetite ; 

* Opposed lo this statement is the fact, that the Carnivora excrete from the kidneys much 
less than the Herbivora, which induced Dr. Wollaston long ago to recommend vegetable diet 
to those who were subject to gravel. Dr. Pearson also advised the same regimen, having 
observed that the concretions of herbivorous animals contain no lithic acid. 

t " Urinary Deposits," p. 50. 



204 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

and instead of preventing the injurious effects of repletion, by labor and 
exercise, he too frequently increases the evil by indulgence in sloth aud 
inactivity. The excess of uon-azotized food, in such circumstances, may 
be deposited as fat, (200, &c.,) but the excess of azotized principles in the 
blood is not converted into muscle and other tissues : it must therefore be 
removed with the excretions, and pass off either by the kidneys or the skin ; 
and this must ever be the case, when the supply exceeds the demand. 

330. If no more nutriment be received into the system than is requi- 
site to supply its wants, no azotized principles, it is probable, will appear 
in the urine, except such as have first formed a part of the animal fabric ; 
but whenever an excess of food is ingested, there will be an accumulation 
of nutrient principles in the blood, unless means be adopted to prevent it. 
It is very probable " that the fibrin of the blood, like the solid tissues, has 
a limited term of existence as such ; and that it must either be converted 
into solid tissue, or must undergo a change of composition." In the 
healthy state of the system, there is a constant demand for as much fibrin 
as the blood supplies ; consequently there is no waste ; but if the supply is 
greater than the demand, how can the excess be removed, except through 
the excretory organs especially concerned in carrying off the superfluous 
and effete azotized matters of the system ; namely, the kidneys and the 
skin ? Liebig states that the superfluous food of the luxurious is converted 
into various gases. This, no doubt, is partly the case; but the whole 
excess of azotized substances is certainly not thus disposed of ; for the 
excretions from the kidneys, skin, &c., vary, in character and amount, with 
the quality and quantity of the food. 

331. Dr. Prout has shown that a considerable difference exists between 
the urina sanguinis, or urine resulting from the secondary assimilating 
process, and the urina potus vel chyli vel cibi, or urine of primary assimilation. 
" There are few persons," says he, " in whom the urine of assimilation does 
not deviate, more or less, from the healthy standard, both in specific gra- 
vity and quantity ; aud the degree and nature of the differences often 
throw much light on the derangements of the assimilating organs. The 
urine of the blood, in general, is more uniform in its properties ; but when 
it does vary remarkably from the standard of health, the deviation generally 
denotes some deep-seated and constitutional disease of an unfavorable cha- 
racter." And again : " With respect to diet, quantity is often of infinitely 
greater importance than quality. Thus, a full meal — whether of animal or 
vegetable* matters, or of a mixture of the two — will usually produce a 

* K vegetable food only be taken, the effect here spoken of ia doubtful, unless one or more 
of the excretory functions be much out of order. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 205 

deposition of gravel in predisposed individuals, in v/liom a spare meal of llie 
very same materials is not followed by such deposits." 

332. If Liebig were correct in stating that the urinary deposits result 
Bolely from decomposition of the tissues, they ought to vary little, in quan- 
tity or quality, from day to day, except when transformation is hastened 
by muscular exercise, disease, &c. ; whereas it is a well-known fact, that 
excess of azotized food greatly increases these deposits, when little exercise 
has been taken to promote disintegration ; it is, therefore, reasonable to 
conclude " that the superflous azotized matter ingested passes off in the 
form of urate of ammonia, without becoming part of the tissues at all." 

333. " There can be no question," says Dr. Golding Bird, " that all the 
phenomena of health and disease point out the probability of there being 
a double origin of this substance, (uric acid :) one from the nitrogenized 
elements of tissues, and the other from the elements of food, rich in nitro- 
gen, which escape the completion of the process of primary assimilation. 
No experience yet collected justifies our assuming that uric acid bears any 
definite relation, in quantity, to urea ; in all probability. Dr. Front's opi- 
nion, that the latter is derived from the metamorphoses of a different set of 
tissues (the gelatinous) from those yielding the former, (the albuminous,) 
is correct, although it does not obviously admit of positive proof.''^ A 
diminution of albuminous matter in the food, therefore, so as to afford no 
more than the necessary supply to the tissues, is the most likely remedy in 
the lithic acid diathesis, and it has universal experience in its favor. 
" Who," says Dr. Graves, " ever heard of a case of gout among the potato- 
eating peasantry of Ireland?" "And who," observes a writer in the 
" British and Foreign Medical Eeview,"f " ever heard of one among the 
oatmeal-feeders of Scotland, or the rice-feeding Hindoos, low as is their 
oxygenation, in consequence of the warmth of the surrounding medium ? 
Every practitioner must have met with examples, in which a simple reduc- 
tion in the quantity of animal food ingested has caused an immediate dis- 
appearance of the lithic acid from the urine. Sometimes it is necessary to 
push this reduction to a still greater extent : thus, we have known an 
instance in which no decided benefit was obtained until the patient was 
restricted to the Hindoo diet of rice and capsicums, which procured a 
simple cure. Upon Dr. Jones' principles, this ought to have produced the 
most serious aggravation ; for the diet which he recommends is one from 
which starch and other non-azotized substances are almost completely' 
excluded." 

• "Urinary Deposits," p. 47. 
t No. XXX., April, 1823. 



206 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

334. The following experiments fully conarm these remarks. Careful 
analyses were made of the urine from two persons, A and B ; the former 
having lived during several years on an exclusively vegetable diet ; the 
latter temperately on a mixed diet, excepting five days previously to the 
first experiment, when he purposely took a much larger portion of animal 
food than usual. Both had refrained during a long period from fermented 
and distilled liquors. The uric acid and urea obtained from the urine of 
tv/enty-four hours was as follows : 

A,— 1.8 grains of Uric Acid, and 181.29 grains of Urea. 
B.— 8.0 do. 333.6 do. 

Nine months afterwards, the experiment was repeated, on the 14th of 
April, 1845, without any change of diet, except that A had occasionally 
taken very small quantities of the diffusible stimulants, and B much less 
animal food than at the former trial. The proportions were then as follow : 

A. — ^1.69 grains of Uric Acid, and 13T.53 grains of Urea. 
B.— 2.19 do. 285.16 do. 

Immediately after this experiment, A lived freely during seven days on 
a mixed diet, taking a large portion of animal food during the same period, 
and B lived exclusively on a vegetable diet. On the 21st of April, the 
uric acid and urea were as below : 

A. — 3.14 grains of Uric Acid, and 2.52.16 grains of Urea. 
B.— 1.259 do. 15T.67 do.* 

335. In the first experiment, the uric acid eliminated in twenty-foor 
hours by A, was one-sixth of the quantity eliminated by B, and the urea 
little more than one-half. In the second experiment, the uric acid waa 
four-fifths, and the urea still about one-half. In the third experiment, the 
proportions were reversed ; the urine of A containing 2h times the uric 
acid, and nearly 1| of the urea yielded by that of B. As the analyses 
were made with extreme care, and conducted in precisely the same way, 
reliance may be placed on their accuracy. The results of these experiments 
establish two material points : — 1. That the urea and uric acid are not 
derived exclusively from the decomposition of the tissues. 2. That the 
quantity of each of these important compounds is increased by animal food, 
and diminished by a fruit and farinaceous diet. The views of Professor 
Liebig a,nd Dr. Bence Jones upon these points cannot, therefore, be correct ; 
and, if practically applied in the treatment of the lithic acid diathesis, 
would doubtless be productive of much mischief. 

* See Appendix, B. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 207 

336. Experiments similar to the above were made by Dr. Lehmaim, of 
Leipsic, who examined the quantity of urea and uric acid secreted by hi3 
kidneys, while living, for some days, on a strictly animal diet ; on a purely 
vegetable diet ; on a mixed diet ; and on a diet quite free from nitrogen- 
consisting of starch, giun, oil, sugar, &c. The mean weight of the urea 
and uric acid obtained from the urine of twenty-four hours, in these 
circumstances, is expressed below in grains. 

Darr. ^Animal Vegetable. Mixed. Non-nitro. 

Urea in the urine of 24 hours 819-2 346-5 500-5 237-1 

Uric acid ditto 22-64 15-7 18-17 11-24 

337. The quantity of urea and uric acid here given, under each kind of 
diet, is much greater than is generally met with, and may be owing to 
some peculiarity in the constitution of the experimenter, or, more likely, to 
some error in converting the foreign weights into English grains. The 
evidence, however, is sufficiently clear as to the influence of food in modi- 
fying the proportion of urea and uric acid separated by the kidneys, and 
the results are similar to those obtained by the preceding experiments. 

338. " From this table we learn," says Dr. Golding Bird, " that when 
living on a diet as free from nitrogen as possible, 11*24 grains of uric acid, 
and 237*1 of urea, were secreted in twenty-four hours. These quantities 
may be assumed as solely produced by metamorphosis of tissue ; inas^ 
much as there existed no other source for them. On confining himself to a 
strictly animal diet, Lehmann found in his urine 22*64 uric acid, and 819-2 
urea ; being 11*4 more of the former, and 582-1 more of the latter, than 
can be accounted for by the disorganization of the tissues of his body, and, 
consequently, must have been derived from the ingesta. On mixing vege- 
table food with his meat, instead of finding an increased proportion of uric 
ucid, (as the theory of Liebig would indicate^ this substance decreased, not 
only in the actual amount, but in the ratio it bears to the urea."* 

339. It is possible, however, that the sudden adoption of a purely vege- 
table diet, by one who has been accustomed to live luxuriously, might 
prove injurious, and even increase the amount of lithic acid ; for, if the 
digestive powers have been enfeebled by a long course of indulgence, au 
immediate return to a diet of fruits and vegetable matters might cause an 
increased secretion of oxalic acid, which, acting on the urate of ammonia 
might deposit the lithic acid ; but, if cautiously adopted, a diet of fari 
nacea and fruit will, in all cases, be of considerable service : and person? 

* " Urinary Deposits," p. 45. p 



Z08 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

who have lived moderately on a mixed diet may, in most cases, make an 
immediate change, without any apprehension of ill consequences. 

340. It may be here obser\^ed, that there are other causes of an abnor- 
mal production of lithic acid. When the functions of the skin, for instance, 
have been suspended, by cold or other means, an excess of nitrogen is 
retained in the blood, and is ultimately separated by the kidneys, in the 
form of urate of ammonia or urea. Sequin observed that perspiration was 
lessened during digestion, and considerably diminished when this function 
V.' as imperfect : food of any kind, therefore, taken in too large a quantity, 
may, by overloading the digestive functions, indirectly cause a deposit of 
uric acid, independently of the nitrogen contained in the meal, from which 
the urate of ammonia might be formed. Even chloride of sodium, (common 
salt,) when taken in excess, may contribute materially, not only to the 
deposition of the lithic acid, but also to the formation of chalk-stones 
(lithate of soda) in the joints ; and as physiological chemists appear to 
have overlooked, or not sufficiently attended, to the combinations thus 
arising, I hope I may be excused endeavoring to point out how these may 
take place according to the well-known laws of chemical affinity. Hydro- 
chloric acid is admitted to be an important agent in the process of diges- 
tion, and common salt, when taken as a condiment, or as existing in all 
vegetable products, is also supposed to be the origin of this acid."^^ It is 
well known that vegetables, during their growth, decompose water, and 
there is little doubt that this is the case in the animal economy. ISTow, as 
water consists of one equivalent of oxygen and one of hydrogen, and as 
common salt is formed by one equivalent of sodium and one of chlorine, the 
following transformations may take place in consequence of the decompo- 
sition of the water. The chlorine of the salt may combine with the 
hydrogen to form hydrochloric acid, and the oxygen unite with the sodium 
to form soda : if these two new products should be in such ex'cess in the 
system as not to be eliminated by the liver and other excreting organs, the 
hydrochloric acid, meeting with the lithate of ammonia, effects another 
change ; by combining with the ammonia, the lithic acid is either precipi- 
tated, forming gravel and other urinary calculi, or the lithic acid unites 
with the soda and forms lithate of soda ; hence it is that gouty concretions 
and gravelly deposits may either simultaneously or alternately afflict the 
same individual. Lactic acid, which, according to Berzelius, is a universal 
product of the spontaneous decomposition of animal matters within the 
human body, may also, by dissolving the union between the ammonia and 
the lithic acid, frequently cause the deposition of the latter. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 209 

[Note 28. This supposition, however, must be erroneous ; for animals 
and human beings who never use salt in any form, are not in tlie least 
deficient in its acidulous property. I am of opinion that chloride of sodium 
can be manufactured by the vital machinery to any extent that the system 
requires it, even from those kinds of food in which chemical analysis does not 
detect it. There are many reasons for regarding common salt, when found 
in the excretions, as an excrementitious substance, as well as urate of 
soda, phosphate of ammonia, &c. T.] 

I shall conclude these observations upon diseases arising from an abnor- 
mal production of lithic acid, with the following authorities and cases. 

341. Dr. Craigie observes : " Diet consisting of bread and milk, or 
rice and milk, or the flour of fai'inaceoiis seeds and milk, is quite ade- 
qnate io prevent the fonnation of the gouty diathesis, and to extinguish 
that diathesis if already formed. Such diet is also adequate to pre- 
vent the disease from appearing in its irregular form, and affecting 
the brain and its membranes, and the heart or lungs. If further argu- 
ments were required, in proof of the position that milk and grain-diet, 
(not in large quantity,) or diet of boiled vegetables and milk — while 
both necessary and adequate to the cure of gout — is perfectly safe, 
and much less injurious than diet of animal food, they may be found in the 
facts observed in the physiological relation between the stomach on the 
one hand, and the lungs on the other."* Dr. Cullen entertains the same 
opinion of vegetable diet : "I am firmly persuaded that any man who, 
early in life, will enter upon the constant practice of bodily labor, and of 
abstinence from animal food, will be preserved entirely from gout." With 
respect to rheumatism, he observes : " The cure requires, in the first place, 
an antiphlogistic regimen, and particularly a total abstinence from animal 
food, and from all fermented and spirituous liquors." Dr. Cheyne informs 
us that the Prince of Conde, after having long suffered from, and being 
quite overcome by the gout, was advised by his physicians, for the relief of 
his pain, to enter upon a vegetable diet, and a total abstinence from fish, 
flesh, and wine. It succeeded accordingly ; his pains were relieved, and 
the gout was overcome.^^ 

[Note 29. It would puzzle, I think, those of our medical gentlemen 
who admit the propriety of a strict vegetable diet for the cure of gout 
and rheumatism, yet contend for the necessity of a return to flesh-eating 
as soon as recovery takes place, to give a reason for their dietetic philo- 

* Elements of the Practice of Physic, vol. ii., p. 633. 



210 BEST FOOD OF M.iN. 

sopliy. To me the statement that tlie food whlcli is capable of ridding 
the system of disease, and restoring its fanctiona] integrity, is not best cal- 
culated to preserve its normal condition, seems intrinsically absurd ; and I 
have never yet been able to draw out of a medical man a single reason for 
a contrary opinion. T.] 

342. One of the most remarkable cases of the beneficial effects of vege- 
table diet in gout, is that of Mr. Thomas Wood, of Billericay, in Essex, 
recorded by Sir George Baker, in the Transactions of the Royal College 
of Physicians. This person — from living freely on large quantities of fat 
meat, with butter, cheese, ale, &c, — became exceedingly corpulent ; and 
began, in his fortieth year, to suffer severely from heartburn, sickness, 
headache, violent rheumatism, and frequent attacks of gout ; he also had 
two epileptic fits. These symptoms continued, increasing in severity, 
during a space of nearly five years ; when, in consequence of reading the 
work of Cornaro on health, he first diminished the quantity of animal food, 
and finally discontinued the use both of it and ale ; living entirely on boiled 
pudding and sea-biscuit, which he partook of only twice in twenty-four 
hours. Under this regimen, Mr. "Wood not only got rid of the rheumatic 
pains and gout, but became strong, vigorous and agile. He was able to 
carry five hundred pounds' weight, which was more than he could lift 
when he ate animal food and drank freely of ale. He enjoyed good health 
till his sixty-fourth year ; when he died from inflammation, brought on l^y 
exposure to cold. Had his diet been regulated by more correct principle?, 
and had other physiological laws been observed, it is probable he would 
have escaped the illness that caused his death, and have lived to extreme 
old age. 

343. We are informed by Dr. Golding Bird, that a patient at Guy's 
Hospital recovered from a severe rheumatic attack by the same means. 
After a temporary recovery, by a judicious administration of medicine, 
" he went out of the hospital, took cold, checked the perspiration, and the 
uric acid deposit appeared as abundantly as before. He was again re- 
lieved by the diaphoretic treatment, but soon afterwards relapsed. It was 
therefore determined to confine his diet to arrow-root, sago, potatoes, and 
bread and butter ; excluding the four ounces of cooked meat he had previ- 
ously taken daily. The effect was very remarkable : the deposit almost 
immediately disappeared ; and he remained free from it till the time when 
he was discharged. On one occasion, the urine of this man deposited, in 
twenty-four hours, upwards of thirty grains of uric acid." 

344. The oxalic acid diathesis, producing oxalic calculi, is generally 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 211 

regarded as a mal-assimilation of the saccharine principle ; consequently 
STigar, vegetables containing starch, and rhubarb, which contains oxalic 
acid, are interdicted to the patient, and are regarded by many as causes of 
the disease. Yet we have seen (192) that the negroes in the West Indies, 
wlien living on crude sugar, are healthy and strong, and, I believe, this 
disease is not known among them, and seldom if ever met with amongst 
vegetarians in any part of the world. Dr. G. Bird says : "From the 
symptoms presented in cases of this disease, there is no difficulty in proving 
to a demonstration the positive and constant existence of serious functional 
derangemeot of the digestive organs, especially the stomach, duodenum, 
and liver. And further, that the quantity of oxalic acid generated is to 
a considerable extent under the control of diet ; some articles of food, 
freefrcm oxalic acid, at once causing the excretion of this substance in 
large quantities, while others appear to have the effect of totally checking 
it." He also asks, " Is it not a legitimate conclusion to suppose that the 
disease under consideration ought to be regarded as a form of what has 
been aptly termed by Dr. Willis ' azoturia,' in which ihQ vital chemistry 
of the kidney has converted part of the urea, or the elements which would 
in health have formed this substance, into oxalic acid ?" Dr. Prout 
informs us that '* gelatine," which contains more azote than any other 
proximate principle, " is, in some states of disease, converted into the sao- 
charine principle and urea^ sometimes into oxalic acid and carbonate of 
ammonia." We may, therefore, infer that oxalic acid, when constituting 
disease, has a similar origin to lithic acid, the one also being convertible 
into the other ; and that the most appropriate diet in each disease is a 
mild and nutritious one, consisting of rice, oatmeal, and other farinaceous 
articles, milk and fruit being added when they produce no inconvenience to 
the digestive organs. 

345. In that usually fatal disease,* diabetes mellitus, a diet consisting 
almost exclusively of animal food is considered by most practitioners, 
absolutely necessary ; and all vegetable productions containing starch or 
Bugar are most scrupulously forbidden. But if fruit and farinacea are the 
natural and best food of man, they must be equally proper, when judi- 
ciously selected, in health and diseases of every description. Medicines 
which are unnatural to a man in a state of health, are doubtless of great 
use in disease ; but food is simply intended to supply nutriment to the sys- 
tem, and to support respiration ; and these purposes will always be best 
eflected by such a diet as bears the closest relation to the structure of the 

• Dv. Watson says : " I dare not affirm that diabetes, although a functional disorder, has 
ever been cured." 



212 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

digestive organs. The general use of animal food in diabetes must, there- 
fore, be attributed to an imperfect knowledge of the cause and nature of 
the complaint. Mal-assimilation may be regarded as the common origin 
of struma, gout, and diabetes ; and the urinary deposits which appear in 
each of these diseases, vary with the character of the ingesta ; Uthates 
abounding when an excess of azotized aliments is taken, and sugar when 
much non-azotized food is used. Dr. Prout observes, that " a saccharine 
condition of the urine exists in dyspeptic and gouty individuals much 
oftener than is supposed : hundreds pass many years of their lives with 
this symptom more or less present, who are quite unaware of it, till the 
quantity of urine becomes increased."* Gout and struma may arise in con- 
sequence of more food being taken than the assimilating organs (although 
in a comparatively healthy state) are able to vitalize ; but the proximate 
cause of diabetes appears to be derangement of the digestive organs, and 
the s}Tnptoms vary with the progress of the disease. The first stage is 
often attended with a sub-inflammatory condition of the stomach, which 
prevents the complete assimilation of the food, even when taken in mode- 
rate quantities. The saccharine state of the urine, which distinguishes the 
true diabetes mellitus, is sometimes preceded by an imperfect conversion 
of the oleaginous principles into fibrin ; in consequence of which, fat either 
accumulates in the system or is removed from it with the excretions : this 
may be considered the second stage of the disease, and may exist long 
before its real nature is suspected. As the functional or organic derange- 
ment increases, the third stage advances ; consisting in a want of power in 
the assimilating organs to change the saccharine principles of food into 
the oleaginous : consequently, the fat hitherto existing (probably in abund- 
ance) disappears, and the body becomes greatly emaciated ; for the food, 
instead of contributing to the nourishment of the body, by its gradual 
conversion into fibrin, is expelled from the system in the form of a low 
sugar. If, at this stage of the complaint, the patient can be induced to 
dispense with all articles containing the amylaceous or saccharine principle, 
and confine himself to a simple animal diet, the symptoms will be allevi- 
ated, and the amount of sugar in the urine will be less, simply because less 
saccharine matter has been taken into the stomach ; or its presence may be 
disguised by the accumulation of urea and uric acid derived from the azo- 
tized food : but the diseased state of the functions and organs may still 
remain the same. Sugar continues to be excreted by the kidneys, even 
when an exclusive diet of animal food is adopted ; which has induced some 
to believe, that the assimilating organs have not only lost their power of 

* Nature and Treatment of Stomach and Eenal Diseases, p. 84. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 213 

converting the saccharine group of aliments into fat and fibrin, but have 
also acquired the property of changing the azotized compounds into sugar. 
It is probable, however, that the fat previously deposited in the cellular 
tissue is gradually absorbed and carried to the stomach, which, from its 
diseased condition, is unable to effect the necessary changes : the fat is 
therefore resolved into sugar, and expelled from the system by the kidneys. 
The numerous experiments of Dr. Capezzuoli tend to prove that the quan- 
tity of sugar found in the urine of diabetic patients keeps no proportion 
whatever to the starch in the aliments ; and that even under the influence 
of an alimentation entirely consisting of neutral nitrogenous substances, 
the urine was found to contain the same quantity of sugar as during a 
farinaceous alimentation. Dr. Bernard, in Archives Generales de Mede- 
cine, infers from many careful experiments : 

1. That diabetic sugar is a normal ingredient in the blood and liver of 
animals. 

2. That the formation of sugar takes place in the liver, and independ- 
ently of saccharine or feculent food. 

3. That this formation of sugar commences before birth. 

4. That it is allied to a state of integrity of the pneumogastric nerves. 

Dr. Prout says, " The power of appropriating the saccharine principle 
ip the last that ceases to exist in an animal ; and thus often remains, to a 
certain extent, long after the power of appropriating albumen and oil has 
ceased." He also says he has never known saccharine urine to exist in 
any other animal than man, which is probably owing to his living upon an 
nnnatural diet. That it does not entirely depend upon the amylaceous or 
saccharine matter introduced from without, is proved by the fact that those 
who live exclusively on these aliments are almost universally free from the 
disease. As in dyspepsia, (203 and 357,) a well-regulated diet of animal 
food, and a sparing supply of vegetable matter, will be much more benefi- 
cial to the diabetic patient than the indiscriminate use of all kinds of food 
of which he may be tempted to partake ; but on a mild farinaceous diet, 
exclusive of all animal food, there would be a much better prospect of 
recovery, although the saccharine state of the urine might for a while be 
increased by it. The presence of sugar in the excretion is only a symptom, 
not a cause of the disease ; and as an azotized diet may diminish the 
amount of sugar witliout curing the complaint, so a purely farinaceous diet 
may, by its mild and nutritious qualities, gradually restore both organ and 
function to health, though the symptoms should appear at first to be 
aggravated. A medical friend informed me that he had a diabetic patient 



214 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

some years ago, who could not be induced to restrict himself to animal 
food ; he lived almost exclusively on oatmeal stirred into boiling water or 
milk. He improved rapidly under so mild a diet, and it is said he com- 
pletely recovered ; but probably his case had not been watched sufficiently 
long after his improvement to ascertain the result. A physician, in con- 
siderable practice, also informs me that in consequence of the invariable 
fatality of the disease under the usually prescribed diet of flesh, and bread 
composed of gluten only, he had recommended, in a well-marked case of 
diabetes, a strictly farinaceous diet, with as beneficial effects as he ever 
observed und^r animal food, &c. The patient is still under his care, but 
considerably improved. 



CHAPTER YH. 



INJUEIOUS EFFECTS OP ANIMAL FOOD. 



346, Many, it must be allowed, partake of large quantities of animal 
food, without suffering from gout. An originally sound and vigorous con- 
stitution, with active excretory organs, may prevent an undue formation of 
lithic acid ; particularly in those leading an active life, and spending much 
of their time in the open air. The beneficial effects of long-continued 
muscular exercise, under a highly azotized but simple diet, is seen in the 
Pampa Indians of Buenos Ayres, who live almost entirely on mare's flesh 
and water ; and yet the diseases dependent upon an excess of lithic acid 
are not known among them ; because, when not sleeping, they are almost 
continually on horseback ; and, being accustomed to this kind of exercise 
from childhood, they acquire the power to ride very great distances with 
comparatively little fatigue. " The mare's flesh which they eat," says Sir 
Everard Home, " is tough and lean ; so that they only satisfy hunger, and 
never grow fat ; but when they accidentally get a buffalo, and indulge 
much in eating fat, it makes them feverish, and takes away their appetite. 
By fasting a day or two, however, they get well. By virtue of the great 
simplicity of their diet, and their constant exercise on horseback, in the 
open air, they enjoy remarkable uniformity of health ; and many of them 
are very athletic, and capable of great endurance, especially in those feats 
and exploits which are performed on horseback." Those who are disposed 
to imitate the Pampa Indians in their muscular exertions, and in their 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 216 

simple mode of living, may venture to satisfy their appetites with the flesh 
of animals ; those, however, who would enjoy health with a moderate share 
of exercise, will do well to adopt a diet more natural to man. 

347. Flesh, even when obtained from healthy animals, is more stimulat- 
ing than it is desirable that human food should be, and has a tendency to 
create an unhealthy state of the blood, and to produce gout, apoplexy, and 
other diseases, as we have already seen. But the bad effects of animal 
food upon the human frame are not confined either to its stimulating or 
azotized qualities, for animals are exposed in various ways — particularly 
by confinement, overfeeding, and unnatural food — to the attacks of many 
diseases ; and, though the generality of mankind are not in danger of 
feasting upon animals that have actually died from disease, yet there can- 
not be a doubt that many are led to the slaughter with solids as well as 
fluids in a state far from healthy, and such as must prove (in some degree) 
detrimental to those who feed upon them. As Plutareh observes, " we 
chew the sores of some, and participate of the sap and juices of the deadly 
wounds of others." 

348. " Herr Wauruch (of Vienna) states, that persons affected with 
taenia are mostly between fifteen and forty years of age ; and that persons 
most concerned with animal provisions were those observed to be chiefly 
attacked ; for, of the two hundred and six patients at an hospital in 
Vienna, one was a man, and fifty-two were women-cooks, several were 
butchers, and eleven were eaters of large quantities of meat. Among pre- 
disposing causes, the principal were a habitation in a damp neighborhood, 
and the use of injured aliments, as bad bread, flour, butter, potatoes, &c., 
but particularly bad mutton, pork, and water." * A man named Chap- 
man, a laborer at Horsham, and two of his children, died in June, 1844, 
from eating meat in a putrid state. The cow, of whose flesh they partook, 
died of the murrain.f In the spring of 1841, fom' members of a family 
had made their dinner, in their usual health, from a part of a sheep which 
had died from a disease then prevalent among cattle. Their symptoms 
somewhat resembled those of irritant poisoning, accompanied by others 
indicating an affection of the nervous system. One of the patients, a 
child, died in less than three hours ; the others recovered. There was no 
poison discovered in the food, nor in the body, nor was any poisonous 
vegetable used at the meal. The effects could only be explained by sup- 
posing that an animal irritant poison was in some unknown manner 
generated in the food. J In the Medical Gazette for November, 1842, 

* Lancet, May 13, 1843. 

t Leeds Mercury, July 6, 1844. 

I Guy'a Hospital Reports, April, 1843. 



216 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

there is an account of the case of three persons who died from the effects 
of liver sausages, which had been made from an apparently healthy pig 
slaughtered only a week before. The inspection threw no light on the 
cause of death. The poisonous effect was supposed to depend on a partial 
decomposition of the fatty parts of the sausages. 

349. In the " Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal," for July, 1844, 
it is observed, in reference to the poisonous properties of the jiesh of dis- 
eased animals used as food, that " in America there are certain regions 
extending for many miles in length, and some miles in breadth, on the 
herbage of which, if an animal feeds, its milk and flesh acquire poisonous 
properties, yet itself enjoying tolerable health."^" In Aurillac, in France, 
not many years since, fifteen or sixteen persons were attacked with symp- 
toms of cholera, after taking the milk of a certain goat. The goat died 
of cholera about twenty-four hours afterward ; and Professors Orfila and 
Marc gave it as their undoubted opinion that the cholera symptoms alluded 
to were caused by the milk. Dr. Alcott says he has known oysters, at 
certain times and seasons, produce the same symptoms. . " It is probable, 
also, that the species of phthisis to which cows are liable — in which it has 
been ascertained that the milk contains seven times more phosphate of lime 
than usual — ^may be attended with injurious results." The very exercise 
of the passions may have such influence upon the milk as to render it dan- 
gerous to children of weakly constitution ; and infants have been thrown 
into convulsions and died, in consequence of drinking the milk of nurses, 
after a paroxysm of rage : we may therefore conclude that the blood and 
other secretions of animals that have been over-driven, or greatly e-xcited, 
will prove highly injurious to persons predisposed to disease. 

[Note 30. The " milk-sickness," or " trembles," which has prevailed in 
several of our Western States, usually commences about the first of July, 
and disappears when vegetation is destroyed by the frost. It has gene- 
rally, if not always, prevailed along the borders of streams, although it is 
said to have disappeared wherever the timber has been removed and the 
land cultivated. What the precise poison is that affects the cattle is un- 
known ; but, when an animal becomes diseased in this way, its milk or flesh 
readily communicates a virulent fever to those who employ it as food. 
This fever has terminated fatally in a majority of cases. T.] 

350. In the present flesh-eating age of Great Britain, perhaps no com- 
plaint is more general than caries of the teeth ; and, as animal food is a 
frequent cause of indigestion, it thus conduces to the decay of those useful 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 217 



portions of the human fabric. But there is a more direct mode by which 
animal food produces this effect. Bell, Fox, and other writers, attribute 
the decay of the teeth to inflammation, situated either in the lining mem- 
brane or the proper bone of the teeth ; but Mr. Robertson, a late author, 
proves — by a number of considerations drawn from the structure, physi- 
ology, and development of the teeth, and from operations performed on 
them — that caries is the result of chemical action of decomposed food upon 
the teeth, and not of inflammatory action. Upon examination, it will be 
found that there are fissures formed in the enamel of the teeth, in consequence 
of the irregular distribution of that substance upon the surface ; also, that 
there are interstices, caused by the crowded position of the teeth, and irregu- 
larity of the shape ; and as the fibres of animal food retained between the 
teeth undergo a process of decomposition, by the action of oxygen, they ac- 
quire the property of corroding, disuniting, and thereby destroying the earthy 
and animal substances of which the teeth are composed. At first there is form- 
ed but a very small hole, which is increased by the daily action of the same 
causes ; the phosphate of lime is gradually disintegrated by the carbonic 
acid, aided by the secretions of the mouth, until at length the nerve 
becomes exposed, and toothache is the result. Vegetable food is not so 
liable to be detained between the teeth ; and when this does occur, it is 
not so injurious, because the starch of which this food principally consists 
is much more easily acted on by the saliva, and converted into gum or 
sugar — one of the nutrient principles. The popular notion that sugar 
injures the teeth is incorrect, except in cases where, by it^admixture with 
other substances, it causes indigestion. " It has been alleged," says Dr. 
Wright, " that the eating of sugar spoils the color of, and corrupts the 
teeth : this, however, proves to be a mistake ; for no people on the earth 
have finer teeth than the negroes in Jamaica."* It has been previously 
shown (61) that the teeth of the Caruivora are formed for tearing, and not 
for masticating, and stand like the teeth of a saw ; by which means the 
particles of flesh, which so readily putrefy, have no chance of lodging 
between them, and, consequently, they are less subject to decay than those 
of man when he feeds on flesh, as they are formed for a different action and 
for different food.^ * 

[Note 31. As far as I have been able to collect information on the 
subject, vegetarians are seldom troubled with toothache or rotting teeth ; 
and those who are vegetarians physiologically are almost entirely exempt 
from decaying teeth or spongy gums. Indeed, I know many individuals 
* Dr. "Wright's "Medical Plants of Jamaica," 



10 



218 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

who have been speedily cured of both, by adopting a consistent vegetable 
diet. T.] 

351. Animal food, however, is not the only article which induces prema- 
ture decay of the teeth ; for " whatever causes a general disturbance of 
fimction, and a morbid irritability of the nervous system, assails the teeth 
in common with all the other organs ; but they wiU react against such 
causes with more or less vigor, according as the performance of their func- 
tion, and other circumstances, are more or less favorable to their health. 
If the food is soft and hot, or concentrated, or high-seasoned, or otherwise 
vicious, and mastication is neglected, incrustations of tartar will gather 
around the neck of the teeth, inflame the gums, separate them from the 
enamel, and irritate the membrane which surrounds the roots ; thus bring- 
ing on premature decay * The teeth being products of the epidermis, their 
healthy condition is as much influenced by that of the mucous membrane 
of the alimentary canal as the cuticle and hair are by the condition of the 
cutaneous organs ; consequently indigestion, from whatever cause, m'lst 
have an injurious influence on the teeth. 

352. When we discover the remains of the inhabitants of our own coun- 
try that were interred two or three hundred years ago, when animal food 
was little used except by the wealthy, and when a greater simplicity of 
diet prevailed, we generally find the teeth in a good state of preservation. 
Sir John Sinclair says : "There is no particular, in respect of which for- 
mer generations seem to have enjoyed a greater superiority over the pre- 
sent, than with regard to the duration of their teeth. A place of inter- 
ment was lately opened at Scone, near Perth, in Scotland, which had 
remained untouched for about two hundred years ; and yet, to the asto- 
nishment of every one, among a great number of skeletons which were 
there discovered, there was hardly any of them whose teeth were not entire 
and sound. This must be ascribed to greater simplicity of diet, to the 
teeth being less injured by fumes from a disordered stomach, to the custom 
of drinking hot liquors being then unusual, and perhaps to the absence of 
scorbutic complaints." It was remarked, also, that several skeletons 
recently discovered while making alterations in the ground near Old Mal- 
ton Abbey, had the teeth quite perfect, and free from all sjnnptoms of 
caries, although the persons to whom they belonged had evidently lived 
much beyond the meridian of life. 

353. An intelligent sea-captain, who had visited most parts of our globe, 
informed Mr. Graham that he found those people who used hot liquids and 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. i. p. 621. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 219 

hot food, and smoked tobacco and other narcotic substances, always had 
black and much-decayed teeth ; but that in the islands of the Pacific, and 
other parts where the people seldom or never take any thing hot into their 
mouths, use little or no animal food, and are very simple, plain, and natural 
in their diet, they had very regular teeth — white, clean, and free from decay. 
In Mexico the higher classes consume great quantities of animal food, gene- 
rally eating it three times a day, and they are noted for the early decay of 
their teeth and for nervous complaints ; whereas the Indians residing in 
the same locality, but who live on vegetable produce, are remarkable for 
their fine white teeth, for their mild expression of countenance, (446, &c.,) 
and for their general good health * (276, 388, 473.) "A medical gentleman," 
says Graham, '' who formerly spent fifteen years in one of the remote counties 
of the State of Maine — where the principal business carried on was that of 
getting out lumber, and where the inhabitants, with active and industrious 
habits, knew nothing of luxury, but subsisted on a plain, simple, and coarse 
diet — stated that the people were very remarkable for their fine white and 
regular teeth, which were wholly free from decay ; and that, although he 
was the only surgeon in the county, he had occasion to extract but one 
tooth in the whole fifteen years ; and he finally left that part, because he 
found no professional business to attend to."t 



CHAPTER Yin. 

BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF VEGETABLE FOOU ON INVALIDS. 

" "We have known various persons who have been delivered from painful and obstinate 
disorders by giving up the use of animal food entirely ; and others in whom disorders of the 
nervous system and the chest bad been very much relieved by the same procedure." — Edik- 
BTJEGH Medical and Sttbgioal Jottsnal, No, 166. 

354. The little I have now stated may be regarded as suJBBcient to warn 
us against too free an indulgence (at any rate) in a diet of animal food. I 
shall proceed to show the good effects of a return to natural and simple 
diet, upon those who suffer from disease. Dr. William Alcott, of North 
America, who (in 1838) published a work on vegetable diet, informs us 

* See "Life in Mexico," by Madame C de la B . 

+ Lectures on the Science of Human Life, vol. 1. p. 518. 



220 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

that Dr. Milo L. North — a distiuguished practitioner of medicine ia Hart- 
ford, Connecticut — addressed a circular, or letter, and questions, to the 
editor of the " Boston Medical and Surgical Journal ;" requesting his 
medical brethren to give him information as to the effects of a vegetable 
diet upon any individuals who had been under their care, or whose cases 
were known to them ; for a great . number of people, of all classes, have 
tried this diet in America. The same queries were also inserted in the 
"American Journal of Medical Science" of Philadelphia ; and were copied 
into numerous papers. In the course of a few months he received a num- 
ber of letters, which were almost unanimous in stating, that a change from 
an animal or mixed diet to one consisting exclusively of fruit and farinacea, 
with no other beverage than water or milk, was attended with the most 
beneficial results, as regards health and strength, both corporeal and mental. 

355. Dr. North prefaced his questions with the following observations : 
" Keports not unfrequently reach us of certain individuals who have fallen 
victims to a prescribed course of regimen. These persons are said, by 
gentlemen who are entitled to the fullest confidence, to have pertinaciously 
followed the course, till they reached a point of reduction from which there 
was no recovery. If these are facts, they ought to be collected and pub- 
lished." We are assured by Dr. Alcott, that not a case of any one hav- 
ing fallen a victim by the adoption of a vegetable diet, is found in the 
whole catalogue of returns to Dr. North. " Not a fact is brought," says 
he, " or an experiment related, in a list of from thirty to forty cases, (re- 
ported, too, by medical men,) v/hich goes to prove that any injury has 
arisen to the healthy from laying aside the use of animal food. In almost 
every instance, the reply to Dr. North indicates that bodily and mental 
labor was endured with less fatigue than before ; and that an increased 
activity of mind and body was accompanied with increased cheerfulness 
and animal enjoyment. In nearly every instance, strength of body was 
actually increased ; especially after the first month." Of the answers that 
were received by Dr. North, I shall make free use, for the purpose of show- 
ing the influence of vegetable diet in cases of disease. 

356. Dr. Parmly, dentist. Park Place, New Tork, thus writes : 

" My Dear Sir : For two years past, I have abstained from the use of 
all the diffusible stimulants ; using no animal food, either fish, flesh, or 
fowl ; nor any alcoholic or vinous spirits ; no form of ale, beer, or porter ; 
no cider, tea, or coffee : but using milk and water as my only liquid ali- 
ment ; and feeding sparingly, or rather moderately, upon farinaceous food, 
vegetables, and fruit, seasoned with unmelted butter, slightly-boiled eggs, 
and sugar or molasses ; with no condiment but common salt. I adopted this 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 221 

regimen, in company with several friends, male and female ; some of whom 
had been afflicted, either with dyspepsia, or some other chronic malady. In 
every instance within the circle of my acquaintance, the symptoms of 
disease disappeared before this system of diet ; and I have reason to be- 
lieve that the disease itself was wholly or in part eradicated. In answer 
to your inquiry, whether I ascribe the cure, in these cases, to the absti- 
nence from animal food, or from stimulating drinks, or from both, I cannot 
but give it as my confident opinion, that the result is to be attributed to a 
general abandonment of the diffusible stimuli, under every shape and form. 
An increase of flesh was one of the earliest effects of the anti-stimulating 
regimen, in those cures in which the system was in a low conditioji. The 
animal spirits became cheerful, buoyant, and uniformly pleasurable. Men- 
tal and bodily labor was endured with much less fatigue ; and both intel- 
lectual and corporeal exertion was more vigorous and efficient." Dr. 
Joshua Porter, of North Brookfield, suffered nearly two years from dys- 
pepsia ; and was rendered more wretched by frequent attacks of colic, 
with pains and cramps extending to his back : so severe had these pains 
become, that the prescriptions of the most eminent physicians afforded only 
partial relief. After living for a short time on milk, with coarse rye and 
Indian bread, which constituted his only food, he completely recovered ; 
and declared, that on this mild diet he could endure fatigue and exposure 
as well as any man ; his muscular strength considerably increased ; and 
every day added new vigor to his constitution. Dr. N. J. Knight, of 
Truro, says : " Some three years previous to my forming a determination 
to subsist upon farinacea, I had been laboring under an aggravated case 
of dyspepsia ; and about six months previous, also, under an attack of 
acute rheumatism. I was harassed with constant constipation of the 
bowels, and ejection of blood after eating, together with occasional pain 
in the head. From November, -1831, to November, 1836, my diet con- 
sisted of rye and Indian bread, stale flour-bread, sweet bread without short- 
ening, milk, some ripe fruit, and occasionally a little butter. During this 
time, while I devoted myself to considerable laborious practice and hard 
study, there was no deficiency of muscular strength or mental energy. I 
am fully satisfied that my mind was never, so active and strong." It ap- 
pears that Dr. Knight has, since the above date, several times tried a diet 
of animal food, which, in each instance, was attended with such symp- 
toms as to induce him to desist. He adds : '' I am now satisfied, to all 
intents and purposes, that mankind would live longer, and enjoy more per- 
fectly the ' sane mind in a sound body,' should they never taste flesh-meat 
or fish." Dr. Cook, Dr. A. Ball, of New York, and many other members 
of the medical profession, give similar testimony. 



222 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

357. We have also well-authenticated facts of the good effects of a 
vegetable diet in cases of dyspepsia, in this country ; but, as the regimen 
is seldom tried here in these distressing complaints, and as members of the 
medical profession are, for the most part, in favor of a diametrically oppo- 
site diet, — generally recommending broiled mutton and stale bread, and a 
careful abstinence from most vegetables, — ^the instances of recovery under 
a vegetable diet are rare ; and, when recorded, the practitioner views them 
rather as phenomena to be wondered at, than as examples for our instruc- 
tion ; and, therefore, continues rigidly to follow the rules that have been 
given ex cathedra. (203.) 

358. Dr. Abercrombie mentions a remarkable instance of the beneficial 
efiects of vegetable diet in a case of dyspepsia. ''A young gentleman," 
says he, " had been for many years a martyr to stomach complaints ; seldom 
a day passing in which he did not sufter greatly from pain in his stomach, 
with flatulency, acidity, and the usual train of dyspeptic symptoms ; and, 
in particular, he could not taste a bit of vegetable without suffering from 
it severely. He had gone on in this manner for years ; when he was seized 
with complaints in his head, threatening apoplexy ; which, after being 
relieved by the usual means, showed such a constant tendency to recur, 
that it has been necessary ever since to restrict him to diet almost entirely 
of vegetables, and in very moderate quantity. Under this regimen, so 
different from his former mode of living, he has continued free from any 
recurrence of the complaints in his head ; and has never been known to 
complain of his stomach."* 

359. "Two cases have recently fallen under my notice," says Mr. 
Charles Turner Thackrah, of Leeds, " in which the individuals, without 
professional advice, adopted a diet of vegetables. Mr. W. tells me that — 
suffering long under bilious disorders, and obtaining little relief from medi- 
cal treatment — he tried a strict regimen of vegetables and water. His 
health and spirits, he assures me, have since been greatly improved ; and 
he is, consequently, a warm advocate of the herbivorous system. But, 
within the last two years, he has judiciously added to his dinner a moderate 
proportion of flesh. A gentleman from B., who had been under my care 
for a chronic disease, was induced, soon after his recoveiy, to try the vege- 
table system. After its use for some months, he informed me that it had 
removed an oppression from the head, which, though slight, had been 
before almost constant ; that his general comfort was increased, and his 
strength by no means reduced. But lately I learn, that he (as well as Mr. 
W.) has added meat to his dinner of herbs. In neither of these cases do I 

* Abercrombie on Diseases of the Stomach. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



doubt the advantages at first received ; but I conceive that it was not 
imputed to the true causc."^" Had Mr. Thackrah beeu led to pay more 
attention to the subject of natural diet, and had he also been aware of the 
multitude of practical experiments which can. be brought to verify the 
deductions of rea,son, he would probably not have been so strenuous an 
advocate of an animal diet as he here appears to be. Besides, like Law- 
rence ond others, he seems to have mistaken a fruit and farinaceous diet 
for an herbaceous one, which is decidedly unnatural to man. 

360. In a letter dated April 16, 1845, Dr. Larabe writes as follows : 
" From the age of nineteen to thirty-five I was constantly suffering from 
the usual symptoms of dyspepsia, which, towards the latter period, were 
accompanied by a constant and oppressive pain about the stomach. At 
the age of thirty-five I had an attack of enteritis, which was severe enough 
to require two venesections ; after this I never went out in the damp of 
the evening without feeling some tenderness over the abdomen. Under 
these circumstances, together with a general feebleness of health, I deter- 
mined to try the effect of substituting distilled water for common water as 
my drink. The effect of this change was a thorough relief of the dyspeptic 
pains and abdominal tenderness. In the ensuing three years, a headache, 
from which I had occasionally suffered earlier in life, returned so fre- 
quently and so severely, as to induce me to take active measures for its 
relief. I then determined to abstain from animal food, as well as from the 
use of common water. The intensity of the paroxysms was instantly 
relieved ; yet they recurred, in a mitigated form, for at least thirty years. 
I have been engaged in the active duties of my profession until the middle 
of last year, which was the eightieth year of my life. Since then, from 
a partial failure in my sight, I have retired into the country ; where, mak- 
ing allowance for my time of life, I enjoy a good share of health." 

361. About thirteen years ago I also suffered very much from dyspepsia, 
and was treated secundum artem by my medical adviser, who was eminent 
in his profession ; but I derived little benefit from either the diet or medi- 
cine which was prescribed for me. I adopted a vegetable diet, not as a 
remedy for my complaint, but for the reasons already mentioned, (Preface ;) 
and, after using this regimen for a very short period, I no longer suffered 
from a disease that had formerly been a daily and severe drawback upon 
the pleasures of existence. Like the patients mentioned by Mr. Thackrah, 
I have often resumed my flesh-eating habits, partly for the sake of experi- 
ment, and partly with a view of complying with the general usages of 
society, and to avoid singularity ; but, after a short time, I have always 

• "Lectures on IHgestion and Diet," p. 62. 



224 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

had cause to repent the change, from the inconvenience and pain which 
were the consequence. I have now sufficiently tested the diet practically, 
and hesitate not to say that since I have totally abstained from animal 
food, I have possessed more health and strength of body, more peace and 
serenity of mind, as well as more intellectual enjoyment, than at any former 
period of life : and I trust that I shall never more be induced to depart 
from that simple mode of living which, while it has conferred on me the 
inappreciable advantages just mentioned, also yields more exquisite sensual 
gratification than I ever experienced on the most richly-flavored dishes of 
a former period.* 

362. " Of the effects of a regimen of the farinacea, combined with milk 
and fruits," says A. P. Buchan, " in subduing the early attacks of phthisis, 
many examples are recorded ; and there would probably be many more, 
were an appropriate regimen adopted rather with a view to prevent than 
to cure this disease." Dr. Caleb Bannister, of Phelps, (N. Y.,) whose 
ancestors, it appears, had all died of hereditary consumption, states as 
follows : "At the age of twenty, I began to be afflicted with pain in differ- 
ent parts of the thorax, and other premonitory symptoms of phthisis 
pulmonalis. Having a severe attack of ague and fever, all my consump- 
tive symptoms became greatly aggravated ; the pain was shifting, 
sometimes between the shoulders, sometimes in the side or breast, &c." 
After enumerating various other symptoms, (such as irritable pulse, &c.,) 
and stating that his life was despaired of, he says : " I was induced to try 
a milk diet, and succeeded in regaining my health ; so that for twenty-four 
years I have been entirely free from any symptom of phthisis." (202 and 
256.) " It will not be disputed," says Dr. Lambe, " that, for consumptive 
symptoms, a vegetable diet, or at least a vegetable and milk diet, is the 
most proper." Dr. Buchan again observes ; " When there is a tendency 
to consumption in the young, it should be counteracted by strictly adher- 
ing to a diet of the farinacea and ripe fruits. Animal food and fermented 
liquors ought to be rigidly prohibited ; even milk often proves too 
nutritious." 

363. Scrofula, cancer, scurvy, epilepsy, dysentery, inflammation, ulcers, 
&c., may be included among the diseases which are greatly relieved, if not 
cured, by vegetable diet, as the ensuing facts attest. Dr. N. J. Knight, 
of Truro, records the following case : " Mrs. A., infected with scrofula of 
the left breast, and in a state of ulceration, applied to me two years ago. 

* " The stomach being the organ in which animal food is dissolved, meat should not be 
given in gastric affections ; whereas feculent substances, digested in the jejunum, can be 
Bafely permitted."— Dr. M'Carthy. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 225 

The ulcer was then the size of a half-dollar, and discharged a consideralale 
quantity of imperfect pus. The axillary glands were much enlarged ; and, 
doubtiijg the practicability of operating with the knife in such cases, I 
told her the danger of her disease, and ordered her to subsist upon bread 
and milk and some fruit, drink water, and keep the body of as uniform 
t-emperature as possible. I ordered the sore to be kept clean by ablutions 
of tepid water. In less than three months the ulcer was healed, and her 
general health much improved. The axillary glands are still enlarged, 
though less so than formerly. She still lives simply, and enjoys good 
health ; but she tells me, if she tastes flesh-meat, it produces a twinging in 
the breast." 

364. Dr. Pemberton, after speaking of the general tendency, in our 
highly-fed communities, to scrofula and consumption, makes the following 
remarks : " If a child is born of scrofulous parents, I would strongly 
recommend that it be entirely nourished from the breast of a healthy nurse, 
for at least a year. After this, the food should consist of milk and fari- 
naceous vegetables. By perseverance in this diet for three years, I have 
found that threatened scrofulous appearances have certainly been post- 
poned, if not altogether prevented." Dr. Lambe's works supply numerous 
instances of cancer being relieved by the same kind of diet ; and to his 
reports I refer the reader for further information.* 

365. We are assured by Dr. Buchan, that " the most obstinate scurvy 
has often been cured by a vegetable diet ; nay, milk alone will frequently 
do more in that disease than any medicine. Hence it is evident," says he, 
" that if vegetables and milk were more used in diet, we should have less 
scurvy, and likewise fewer putrid and inflammatory fevers." Sir Gilbert 
Blane, in his work entitled " Diseases of the Fleet," (1781,) mentions that 
raw potatoes sliced, with vinegar, have been found beneficial in scurvy. 
Lieut. James Grant, in his " Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery;" (pub- 
lished in 1803.) says, "We found an American ship lying here, called the 
Washington, of Nantucket. Her commander, Jedediah Fitz, informed me 
that the American sailors had discovered potatoes eaten raw to be a very 
powerful antiscorbutic ; and that their whaling-vessels constantly took a 
quantity with them to sea to eat raw, as an antidote against scurvy." 
Much more recently, Mr. Jullien Fontanellef gave a brief sketch of their 
antiscorbutic efiects on sailors ; many of whom, he states, declared them- 

* It is universally agreed that the diet of cancerous parents should be light, easily 
digestible, and succulent. Stimulants of all kinds should be carefuUy avoided, and a vege- 
table diet certainly combines these conditions. 

t "Journal de Pharmacie," tome xxiv. p. 301. (1838.) 
10* • 



226 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



Belves to have been cured of the scurvy by the loug-continued use of 
potatoes very slightly baked under the ashes, and eaten without salt. 
Nauche, also, testifies to similar good efiects of this vegetable, which he 
used in the form of a decoction. In the " Lancet" for September 3 and 24, 
1842, are two papers — one by Wm. Dalton, M.R.C.S., and the other by 
Julius Berncastle, M.R.C.S. — on the beneficial influence of potatoes in sea 
Bcurvy, either eaten raw and sliced, like cucumber, witli vinegar, or boiled, 
as generally used ; in either way, they are said to prove an excellent anti- 
scorbutic. 

366. Dr. Baly,* Physician to the General Penitentiary at Milbank, has 
published some interesting observations on the antiscorbutic quality of the 
potato ; and he declares, that its efficacy is not (as some had supposed) 
impaired by a boiling-heat, but, " as ordinarily cooked, it is an admirable 
freservative against the scurvyy In 1840, he found that scurvy was a 
disease of rather frequent occurrence among the military prisoners ; while 
among the convicts it was never seen. The exemption of the latter, he 
found, could be attributed only to their weekly diet containing 5 lbs. of 
potatoes and an onion. The military prisoners, therefore, were allowed 2 
lbs. of potatoes weekly, during the first three months of their imprison- 
ment ; 3 lbs. during the second three months, and 4 lbs. after the expiration 
of six months. " This addition to the dietary of the military prisoners 
was made in January, 1842, and not a single case of scurvy has since 
occurred." Dr. Baly has also shown, from the Reports of the Inspectors 
of Prisons, that in those prisons where scurvy has prevailed, the diet of the 
prisoners, though often abundant in other respects, has contained no 
potatoes, or only a very small quantity ; and that, in several prisons, the 
appearance of the disease has wholly ceased on the addition of a few 
pounds of potatoes bemg made to the weekly dietary. It may, therefore, 
be concluded from such an abundance of facts, that our present exemptiou 
from the scurvy is, in a great measure, owing to the general use of this 
valuable root. 

367. A physician, in answer to Dr. North, states that he had been 
subject to severe attacks of epilepsy ; but, having maintained a total 
abstinence from flesh, fish, and fowl, for two years and a half, he had been 
entirely free from any attack. He adds : " That this happy immunity from 
a most obstinate disease is to be attributed solely to my abstinence from 
animal food, I do not feel prepared to assert ; but that my general health 
has been better, my attacks of disease far milder, my vigor of mind and 
body greater, my mental perceptions clearer and more acute, and my 

* "London Medical Gazette," February 10, 1848. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 227 

enjoyment of life, on the whole, very essentially increased, I am fully pre- 
pared to prove." 

368. Dr. Cheyne relates a remarkable cure of epilepsy, in the case of 
Dr. Taylor, who was, for a long time, dreadfully afflicted with epileptic fits. 
He tried the effects of medicine, and consulted all the most eminent of his 
brethren of the medical profession, in and about London ; but obtained no 
relief. At last, he was obliged to follow the advice of Dr. Sydenham, 
whose works he had studied. He first discontinued the use of all fer- 
mented and distilled liquors ; then, finding his fits become less frequent and 
less violent, he gave ui^ all animal food, and confined himself entirely to 
cow's milk. In the course of a year or two he was perfectly cured ; and, 
for seventeen years, enjoyed as good health as human nature is capable of. 
He assured Dr. Cheyne that, although considerably advanced in years, 
he could then play at cricket six hours without fatigue or distress ; and 
was more active and clear in his faculties than he had ever been in his 
whole life. He also said he had cured a great many persons of inveterate 
distempers, by means of the same diet. Dr. Hayward, of Boston, in one 
of his lectures, alluded to the case of a young man at the hospital last 
spring, who had such severe epileptic fits that it was thought the pressure 
upon the br9,in could only be relieved by trepanning. A mild vegetable 
diet, however, brought relief. Sometime afterwards he ate freely of flesh- 
meat at a dinner, and his fits immediately returned with more violence 
than ever. A strict adherence to a plain diet again brought relief. Dr. 
Cranstown, after suffering greatly for four or five years from chronic 
dysentery, was cured completely by milk and farinaceous diet. 

369. " The late Dr. Gregory, of Edinburgh, used always to mention iu 
his lectures the case of Dr. Adam Ferguson, the celebrated historian, as 
affording one of the strongest illustrations he ever met with of the benefit 
that may be derived from timely attention to the avoidance of those cir- 
cumstances which tend to produce plethora and apoplexy. It is, perhaps, 
the most striking of the kind on record. Dr. Ferguson experienced several 
attacks of temporary blindness some time before he had a stroke of the 
palsy, and he did not take those hints so readily as he should have done. 
He observed, that while he was delivering a lecture, his class, and the 
papers before him, would disappear, vanish from his sight, and reappear 
again in a few seconds. He was a man of full habit ; at one time corpu- 
lent and very ruddy ; and, though by no means intemperate, he lived fully. 
I say he did not attend to these admonitions, and at length, in the sixtieth 
year of his age, he suffered a decided shock of paralysis. He recovered, 
however, and from that period, under the advice of his friend, Dr. Black, 



228 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

became a strict Pythagorean in his diet, eating nothing but vegetables, and 
drinking only water or milk. He got rid of every paralytic symptom, 
became even robust and muscular, for a man of his time of life, and died 
in full possession of his mental faculties, at the advanced age of ninety- 
three, upwards of thirty years after his first attack. Sir Walter Scott 
describes him as having been, " long after his eightieth year, one of the 
most striking old men it was possible to look at. His firm step and ruddy 
cheek contrasted agreeably and unexpectedly with his silver locks ; and 
the di'ess which he wore, much resembling that of the Flemish peasant, 
gave an air of peculiarity to his whole figure. In his conversation, the 
mixture of original thinking with high moral feeling and extensive learn- 
ing, his love of country, contempt of luxury, and especially the strong 
subjection of his passions and feelings to the dominion of his reason, made 
him, perhaps, the most striking example of the Stoic philosopher which 
could be seen in modern days." * 

370.. Dr. Cheyne — the celebrated physician alluded to in several preced- 
ing paragraphs^ived freely, and became so enormously stout that he 
weighed thirty-two stones, and was obliged to have the whole side of his 
chariot open to receive him. He became short-breathed, lethargic, nervous, 
and scorbutic ; he tried the power of medicine in vain, and was only cured 
by resorting to a vegetable and milk diet. ^It is said that, upon this diet, 
he reduced himself to the weight of ten stones ! 

371. Dr. Joshua Porter, of North Brookfield, says : " I have been called 
to prescribe for a man who has been a flesh-eater for more than half a 
century. He was confined to his house, and had been losing his strength 
for several months ; still keeping up his old habits. The disease which 
was preying upon him was chronic inflammation of the right leg ; the 
flesh had been so long swollen and inflamed, that it had become hard to the 
touch. There were ulcers on his thigh, and some had made their appear- 
ance on his hip. This disease had been of seven months' standing ; though 
not in so aggravated a form as it now appeared. After examining the 
patient attentively, I becamec onvinced that the disease, which developed 
itself locally, was of a constitutional origin, and, of course, not to be 
cured by local remedies, which had been applied for the period above men- 
tioned. All local applications were discontinued, and the patient was put 
on a vegetable diet, after the alimentary canal was freely evacuated. I 
saw this man three days afterwards : the dark purple appearance of tlic 
leg had somewhat subsided ; the red and angry appearance about the bas3 
of the ulcers was gone, and his strength improved. Three days after J 

* Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Physic, by Thomas Watson, M.D 1843. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 229 

called, I found him in his garden at work. He is now— two weeks since 
my first prescription — almost well. All the ulcers have healed, with the 
exception of one or two." 

372. But the most remarkable cure of this kind is recorded in " The 
Lancet" for May 14, 1842, by Mr. S. Rowbotham, Surgeon, of Stockport. 
The son of Mr. Fielding, of that to-wn, about three years old, had been ill 
eighteen months. He was covered, from head to foot, with ulcers : his 
eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and, in fact, his whole head and face, were involved 
in one complete mass of fetid running sores and ulcers ; and the lower part 
of his body was equally bad ; so that his little thighs seemed nearly sepa- 
rating from his body. For more than twelve months he had been quite 
blind ; and had never been able to sit dovra, even on a pillow, but stood 
upon his foot, and leaned with his elbow upon the nui-se — except at times 
when he was able to kneel on a pillow : he had scarcely been able to lie in 
bed for the same period. Eight of the most eminent medical men had 
given him up as incurable ; and some of them declared, that no known 
mortal power could ever improve his condition, much less effect a cure. 
" From certain views which I held on the origin of disease," says Mr. Row- 
botham, " I was induced to recommend a diet consisting almost entirely of 
ripe fruits and honey, or sugar ajid treacle. The child commenced this 
diet on the 13th of September, 1841 : he had stewed fruits, mixed with 
sugar or honey, to all his meals ; and was allowed frequently to eat grapes, 
cherries, plums, apples, pears, and such other fruits as could be obtained. 
On the 16th, the sores on his back were beginning to disappear ; on the 
23d, he was very sensibly improved ; on the 30th, one-half of his face was 
clear ; the lower parts of his body were much better ; and he could sit in 
a chair, and lie comfortably in bed. He continued daily to improve, till 
at last his eyes opened ; but they were at first very weak, and he could 
scarcely see any thing : his sight, however, gradually improved. On the 
1st of January, 1842, not a single ulcer remained on his body : the skin 
became remarkably clear and fair ; and the features — which, for twelve 
months, had been in such a state that it was impossible to do more than 
guess at the position of his nose and eyes — were restored to their wonted 
appearance." 

373. The report of this case reflects great honor upon Mr. Rowbotham. 
Had he been influenced by mercenary motives, and a desire to acquire fame 
at the expense of truth, he might easily have done so, by attributing the 
cure to some occult treatment ; but it does not appear that he employed 
any medicine. This case, therefore, may be regarded as going far to prove 
that a natural diet not only is the best food, but also the very best physic. 



230 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

Such, however, is the force of prejudice and credulity, and the love of mys- 
tery, that we have far greater confidence in a few grains of nauseous vege- 
table matter, in the form of '' Old Parr's" or " Morisou's Pills," than we 
have in pounds of wholesome and pleasant vegetable matter, in the shape 
of fruit. Many will tempt the appetite with fruit, after a hearty dinner 
of sundry compounds, when it is almost certain to produce bad effects ; but 
few think of making it a part of their daily meal, which is the proper way 
of employing it. 

374. No sooner does a person make trial of a vegetable diet, than his 
friends (from the best of motives, no doubt) attempt to alarm him, by pre- 
dicting bad consequences from what they esteem his folly. Even Dr. 
Dixon says of this diet : " I know of no complaint, except small-pox and 
the other contagious diseases, that it has not of itself produced." This 
may certainly be added to his list of " Fallacies of the Faculty ;" and I 
challenge him to state a single instance in which «n?/ disease can be clearly 
traced to a properly-selected fruit and farinaceous diet. The facetious 
remarks which he makes respecting the advocates of an exclusively vege- 
table diet would be deserving of reply, were it not evident that, like many 
other opponents, he has totally misunderstood the question ; his arguments 
being directed against a low herbaceous diet which I should think few, if 
any, would defend. 

375. Some anticipate that, though a person under this diet is not so lia- 
ble to inflammatory diseases, yet the low tone of his system exposes him 
more to the attacks of epidemics ; and should he become the subject of 
any active disease, he would have so little stamina, under so poor a diet, that 
he would soon sink under the complaint. This assumption is perfectly gra- 
tuitous ; having neither reason nor facts to support it. In the first place, 
we deny that a vegetable diet, in the true sense of the term, (as applied to 
man,) is a poor diet ; and, in the second place, it has been shown (Chapters 
m. and rV.) that the health and strength of those who adopt it are 
(other circumstances being the same) much superior to the health and 
strength of those whose food consists wholly or partly of the flesh of ani- 
mals. All the functions of the human frame maintain their normal state 
of activity much better under the former diet ; and, consequently, such a 
degree of sensibility, contractility, and elasticity is communicated to the 
human fabric, as enables it much more effectually to resist malaria : pro- 
bably, also, because the peculiar arrangement of elements which constitute 
miasma, meets with no similar arrangement in the blood ; by which Pro- 
fessor Liebig supposes a process of fermentation is set up, thereby giving 
origin to disease. If, however, disease should attack a person thus living 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 281 

according to nature, or if accident should befall liim, the symptoms gene- 
rally evince so slight a deviation from health, that a state of convalescence 
and recovery may be hoped for, by a little attention to the secretions, and 
by the judicious administration of the mildest medicines. 

376. If by '•' stamiua" be meant stoutness of person and fulness of blood, 
such stamina constitutes the very food of disease ; and a person in such a 
state is not only more liable to febrile and epidemic attacks, but is also in 
much greater danger, while laboring under them, than one vs^hose develop- 
ment is such as to allow all the secretory functions to be performed with 
ease, and whose blood is not surcharged with either natural or extraneous 
elements. How frequently do we hear of those who are said to be looking 
well and healthy, being suddenly cut off by apoplexy, or some malignant 
disorder! The fact is, we are deceived by appearances, and misled by 
what we consider the indications of health ; for those whom we are taught 
to regard as healthy and robust, are generally the farthest from safety ; 
and only need a slight exciting cause to bring on fatal disease. " It is not 
the apparent disease which is the real cause of death : but men die because 
the body is worn out ; the tone of the fibres is destroyed, and the principle 
of motion fails. The obvious disease is the mask under which the condi- 
tion is concealed."* Not to dwell unnecessarily on this point, I may con- 
fidently appeal to medical experience, and to some hundreds of examples. 

377. Dr. William Davidson, senior physician of the Glasgow Koyal 
Infirmary, in his treatise " On the Sources and Propagation of continued 
Fevers," — as quoted in the Report of the Poor-Law Commissioners on 
the Sanitary Condition of the Laboring Population of Great Britain, (page 
145,) — gives us the following information : " Drs. Barker and Cheyne — in 
their historical account of the Irish Epidemic — state that, in every part of 
the country, fever was reported to have been much more fatal among the 
upper than the lower classes ! To what is this difference of mortality, so 
generally remarked by experienced hospital physicians, to be attributed ? 
and which in Ireland seemed to be very remarkable ; namely, in the lower 
classes about one in twenty-three cases, and in the upper classes one in 
three or four generally, but in other places about one in seven. Can the 
difference in the mode of living account for this anomaly ? as the first live 
very much on potatoes, while the others use a larger or smaller proportion 
of animal food ; and the lower classes, almost everywhere in this country, 
use less animal food and stimulating dishes than those who are more 
wealthy, and in a higher sphere of society." '' It is well known that the 
endemic fevers of Spain and Italy are greatly more violent and rapid than 

* Journal de Medicine, Chirnrgie, &c. 



232 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

those of England and Germany ; and though with both Spaniards and 
Italians they are less violent and more manageable than when English and 
German residents are attacked, and are often cured by keeping the patients 
on water diet for several days or weeks, yet no English patient could be 
trusted to such a mode of management ; but in order to bring the disease 
to a favorable termination, bloodletting to a considerable extent, and 
other evacuant remedies, are required. All this seems to be connected 
with the different habits as to the use of animal food observed by different 
nations."^ 

3*78. " Excessive nourishment," observes 'Mjc. Thackrah, " is the general 
state of Englishmen. We take richer food than our habits require ; and 
thus our vessels are loaded, either with blood in excess or with a fluid but 
partially assimilated. Hence, probably our greater danger from disease or 
accident ; the greater bloodletting and evacuations which our maladies 
require ; and the higher fever which injuries occasion. In reading the 
Memoirs of French Surgery, we find numerous instances of patients re- 
stored by the efforts of nature, from states which, in similar circumstances, 
would be fatal to Englishmen."! " It is to be remarked," says Sir G. 
Staunton, "that the Chinese recover from all kinds of accidents more 
rapidly, and with fewer symptoms of any kind of danger, than most people 
in Europe. The constant and quick recovery from considerable and alarm- 
ing wounds, has been observed likewise to take place among the natives 
of Hindostan. The European surgeons have been surprised at the easy 
cure of sepoys in the English service, from accidents accounted extremely 
formidable." Sir George attributes this to their vegetable regimen. 

379. A medical gentleman recently informed me, that four individuals 
in Manchester were bitten by a mad dog, and were in consequence attacked 
by that dreadful disease, hydrophobia. Similar remedies were employed 
in each case ; death, however, terminated the sufferings of all except one ; 
and he had long subsisted on a vegetable diet. An isolated case of this 
kind, however, should have little weight with us, as the recovery may have 
depended upon some cause unknown to us. 

380. Some there are who, though convinced of the propriety of a vege- 
table diet for those who are strong and well, think its adoption a dangeroua 
experiment for those who are weak or emaciated by disease ; but Dr. 
Cheyne was of a very different opinion. He says : " For those who are 
extremely broken down with chronic disease, I have found no other relief 
than a total abstinence from all animal food, and from all sorts of strong 

* Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, No. 166. 
t " Lectures on Digestion and Diet," p. 84. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 2S8 

and fermented liquors. In about thirty years' practice, in which I have (in 
some degree or other) advised this method in proper cases, I have had but 
two cases in whose ;total recovery I have been mistaken ; and they were 
both too deeply diseased, and too far gone for recovery, before I undertook 
them." The author is acquainted with several persons who had long 
labored under extreme weakness and debility, notwithstanding a long trial 
of a stimulating diet, — of animal food, porter, wine, &c., — at the recom- 
mendation of eminent practitioners; and yet, after adopting a simple, 
nourishing diet, — consisting of rice and other farinaceous substances, they 
immediately began to acquire strength, and were gradually restored to 
health. 

381. Under a stimulating diet, weak persons may seem to rally ; and 
doubtless many, whose constitutions are able to bear it, rapidly improve ; 
but with many others, this does not continue long ; they generally retro- 
grade ; some debilitated organ or other of their system being found inade- 
quate to the duty required of it ; while, under a mild and natural diet, 
tone is gradually imparted to each organ ; the functions are performed 
with ease and advantage ; and the whole frame assumes its normal state 
of health, strength, and activity. Unfortunately, many have neither faith 
nor patience to give a fair trial to this slow but more sure process. 

382. The following is a case in point, from Dr. Lambe's Reports : A 
youth employed as a shopman was obliged, at an early period, to live on 
vegetables : his health was not robust. At the age of sixteen, his diet 
contained a considerable proportion of animal food. " The consequence 
was, that he improved considerably in strength and appearance ; and, as 
he expresses it, he thought himself becoming quite a hearty lad. This in- 
creased strength, and apparently improved health, lasted nearly two years. 
After this, it began to decline. Though the diet continued unchanged, 
the strength diminished ; and he is certain that now, at the age of twenty- 
one, he is not so strong as he was three years ago, — at eighteen. He is 
not now able to raise weights which he could do then." At the age of 
eighteen, moreover, he becam.e affected with scrofula. 

383. An intelligent gentleman thus writes respecting his little boy : 
" He was, for a long time, delicate and ill ; and, at the suggestion of the 
medical attendant, we ceased to give him animal food : he very soon be- 
came quite hearty, and seemed to relish bread and butter as his most 
desirable fare. The extremely pernicious effects of animal food in illness 
show that it cannot be so generally suited to us as farinaceous food, which 
is found to agree with persons in almost every state of health." Many 
more instances might be given of the beneficial effects of a fruit and farina. 



234 BEST FOOD OF MAN, 



ceous'diet on persons laboring under disease, but it is presumed that those 
already presented will be suJBficient to convince those who are sceptical on 
the subject ; and, having shown that it is equally favorable to the continued 
maintenance oi health, strength, and soundness of constitution, a few ex- 
amples may now be adduced, to demonstrate its efficacy as a protection 
against diseases, and more especially such as are of an epidemic character. 



CHAPTER IX. 

VEGETABLE DIET PEOTECTIVE AGAINST EPIDEMICS. 

384. From Volney's Travels we learn, " the Wallachians are in general 
tall, well built, robust, and of a very wholesome complexion. Diseases 
are very rare among them ; and the plague, though so frequent in Turkey, 
has never been known, excepting in times of war, when this disease is 
brought among them by the troops who come from Asia. The manners 
of the Wallachians, as far as I have been able to judge of them, are sim- 
ple, and neither embellished nor sullied by art. Temperate in their 
repasts, they prefer vegetables to fruits, and fruits to the most delicate 
meats." Timoni, in his account of the plague at Constantinople, relates 
that the Armenians, who chiefly live on vegetables, are far less liable to 
the disease than the inhabitants of that city.'* 

385. Sir William Temple, in his " Essay on Learning,"! says of the Brah- 
mins : " Their moral philosophy consisted chiefly in preventing all diseases 
or distempers of the body, from which they esteemed the perturbation of 
mind, in a great measure, to arise ; then in composing the mind, and 
exempting it from all anxious cares ; esteeming the troublesome and soli- 
citous thoughts about past and future to be like so many dreams, and no 
more to be regarded. They despised both life and death, pleasure and 
pain ; or, at least, thought them perfectly indifferent. Their justice was 
exact and exemplary ; their temperance so great, that they lived upon rice 
and herbs, and upon nothing that had sensitive life. If they fell sick, they 
counted it such a mark of intemperance, that they would frequently die of 
aname and sullenness ; but many lived a hundred and fifty, and some two 
hundred years." 

* Clutterbuck on Fever. t Works, vol. ii., p. 149. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 285 

386. In the first missionary voyage to the South Sea Islands, we are 
told that, " until the Europeans visited the Otaheitans, they had few dis- 
orders among them. Their temperate and regular mode of life, the great 
use of vegetables, little animal food, and absence of all noxious distilled 
spirits and wines, preserved them in health." The case at present is wo- 
fuUy different. 

387. It has been observed, that the laboring negroes of the West India 
Islands are almost wholly exempt from the scourge of the yellow fever, 
which has cut ofiT such numbers of the other classes of the residents. 
Upon this observation it was proposed, when the same disease invaded 
Philadelphia, and was thought contagious, to employ negroes to attend the 
sick. But there it was found that negroes were some of those who were 
the most subject to the disease. The principal cause of this difference is 
said, by the physician on whose authority I relate the fact, to be, that in 
Philadelphia the manner of living of negroes was as plentiful as that of 
white people in the West Indies ; the reverse of which is known to be the 
fact in the islands."* 

388. Humboldt says the Mexican Indians escape the goitre, even in 
districts where it is prevalent. It is probable that their exemption from 
bronchocele is due to their subsisting on vegetables ; on which account 
there will be less occasion for their drinking the water of the country, upon 
which the disease is supposed to depend. 

389. The late Dr. Alderson, of Hull, sent the following statement to Mr. 
Thackrah : "A friend has, for a long series of yeai-s, uniformly continued a 
plan of water-drinking and a vegetable diet, which he adopted on mature 
reflection ; being fully convinced that the contrary mode was mere luxury 
and indulgence. His children are living evidences of the good effects of 
such a plan ; there cannot be a handsomer, stronger, or better family ; they 
possess every physical power in perfection — being tall, comely, finely pro- 
portioned, patient of fatigue, capable of the greatest exertions, and excel- 
ling in every gymnastic exercise, without ever having tasted animal food, 
or fermented liquors. They have very seldom even required the aid of 
medical men ; they fear not the effects of the common epidemics ; nor have 
they ever suffered from acquired diseases."! 

390. The Eev. J. B. Strettles, from whose letter I have previously given 
an extract, (302,) further says : "As far as my experience with respect to 
the members of our Society goes, they are far less subject to the period- 

* Bush's "Works, vol, iv., p. 55. 

t Thackrah's Lectures on Digestion and Diet, p. 102. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



ically prevailing epidemics ; and, during the late destructive cholera and 
influenza, none of them were at all affected by those diseases." 

The following cases are quoted from Sylvester Graham's "Lectures on 
Human Life :" 

391. Howard, the celebrated philanthi'opist, was probably more exposed 
to the influence of pestilential causes than any other human being that 
ever lived. " In the period of sixteen or seventeen years," says his bio- 
grapher, " he travelled between fifty and sixty thousand miles, for the sole 
purpose of relieving the distresses of the most wretched of the human race. 
The fatigues, the dangers, the privations he imderwent or encountered, for 
the good of others, were such as no one else was ever exposed to in such a 
. cause, and such as few could have endured. He often travelled several 
nights and days in succession, without stopping, over roads almost impass- 
able, in weather the most inclement, with accommodations the meanest and 
most wretched. Summer and winter, heat and cold, rain and snow, in all their 
extremes, alike failed to stay him for a moment in his course ; while plague 
and pestilence and famine, instead of being evils that he shunned, were 
those with which he was most familiar, and to many of whose horrors he 
voluntarily exposed himself ; visiting the foulest dungeons, filled with ma- 
lignant infection ; spending forty days in a filthy and infected lazaretto ; 
plunging into military encampments where the plague was committing its 
most horrid ravages, and visiting where none of his conductors dared to 
accompany him." Through all this he subsisted entirely on a most rigidly 
abstemious diet ; carefully avoiding the use of wine, and all other alcoholic 
drinks ; and such was the result of this man's experience and observation, 
that he earnestly advised others who were exposed to the plague to abstain 
entirely from the use of animal food : this it cannot be supposed he would 
have done, had he not been fully confident of the correctness of such advice, 
both from what he had experienced himself, and from what he had seen in 
others. And it must be remembered, that Howard's opportunity to test 
the correctness of this opinion was neither brief nor limited, but the most 
extensive, varied, and long-dm-ing, ever experienced by any one man ; and 
such were the accuracy of his observations, and the soundness of his judg- 
ment, that, although not himself a physician, he was more successful in 
treating the plague than any of the physicians where he went. Howard's 
opinion on such a subject is therefore of the highest value. " The abste- 
mious diet which at an early period of his life he adopted, from a regard 
to his health," says his biographer, " he afterwards continued and increased 
in its rigor, from principle and from choice, as well as from a conviction 
of the great advantages which he derived from it." And, after all his 



BESTFOODOFMAN. 237 

experience, near the close of his life, he made the following record in his 
diary : " I am fully persuaded, as to the health of our bodies, that herbs 
and fruits will sustain nature, in every respect, far beyond the best flesh." 

392. The distinguished botanist, Charles Whitlaw, speaking of the 
ravages of the yellow fever in New York, says : " I was then in full vigor 
of health, having been brought up on a vegetable diet, which, I have no 
doubt, was the chief cause of preserving my health and life, as I attended 
and nursed a considerable number, during the whole of their illness, with- 
out taking the fever. Being anxious to know the cause of the dreadful 
malady, I attended the dissections. The doctors were astonished how I 
escaped the contagion. Mr. Hardy, a Scotch philanthropist, like Howard, 
went from place to place in the city, administering comforts to the diseased 
and miserable. I was induced to follow his course. It would be impossible 
to describe the distress I witnessed." Mr. Whitlaw also informed Mr. Gra- 
ham that he spent a season in New Orleans, during the prevalence of the 
yellow fever, and was much among the sick, nursing and administering to 
them; and, by virtue of a pure vegetable diet, he wholly escaped an 
attack of fever. 

393. Dr. Copeland says : " When travelling in the most unhealthy parts 
of intertropical Africa, in 1817, 1 met with an Englishman who had lived 
there between thirty and forty years, and was then in the enjoyment of 
good health. The circumstance was singular ; and, in answer to my inqui- 
ries as to his habits, he informed me that, soon after his removal to that 
pestilential climate, his health had continued to suffer till, after trymg 
various methods without benefit, he had pursued, as closely as possible, the 
modes of life of the natives — adopting both their diet and beverage, (rice, 
maize, and water,) and from that time he had experienced no serious 
illness." " Dr. Eush, it is well known, preserved his health and energy 
amidst a very fatal yellow fever epidemic of Philadelphia, by confining 
himself to diet consisting chiefly of vegetables, grains, and milk, and 
excluding the flesh of animals in every shape."* 

394. The Rev. Mr. Mylne, missionary to Africa, makes the following 
mention of the health of his colleague, the Rev. Mr. Crocker. Having 
given an account of his own severe sickness and recovery, he adds: 
"Brother Crocker has been very much favored. He has had no real 
attack of fever, all this time ; which, I suppose, is unprecedented for a 
white man here : but he began, three months before leaving America, to 
live on farinaceous food, and has strictly adhered to his principles since he 
arrived ; living on rice, cassada, sweet potatoes, &c. : a fact worthy of the 

* Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, No. 166. 



238 BEST FOOD OF MAN 

consideration of emigrants to tliis country." Mr. G. W. McElroy, of 
Kentucky, visited Liberia, (in Africa,) in tlie summer of 1835 ; arriving 
in July. He spent two months in Monrovia, and two months on the coast. 
During his voyage to Africa, while there, and on his passage home, he 
abstained wholly from animal food ; living on rice and other farinaceous 
vegetables, and on fruits. He enjoyed the best of health the whole time, 
(although much exposed while in Africa ;) and in fifty-seven days he gained 
fifteen pounds in weight. 

392. " But the most signal demonstration of the truth of the principles 
which I am contending for," says Mr. Graham, *' was afforded in the city of 
New York, during the prevalence of the cholera, in the summer of 1832. 
The opinion had been imported from Europe, and generally received in our 
country, that a generous diet — embracing a large proportion of flesh- 
meat, flesh-soups, &c., with a little good wine — and a strict abstinence 
from most fruits and vegetables, were the very best means to escape an 
attack of that terrible disease. Nearly four months before the cholera 
appeared in New York, I gave a public lecture on the subject, in that 
city ; in which I contended that an entire abstinence from flesh-meat and 
flesh-soups, and from all alcoholic and narcotic liquors and substances, 
and from every kind of purely stimulating substances, and the observ- 
ance of a correct general regimen in regard to sleeping, bathing, clothing, 
exercise, &c., would constitute the surest means by which any one 
could rationally hope to be preserved from an attack of that disease. 
I repeated this lecture, after the cholera had commenced its ravages in the 
city ; and, notwithstanding the powerful opposition to the opinions which 
I advanced, a very considerable number of citizens strictly adhered to my 
advice. And it is an important fact, that of all who followed the pre- 
scribed regimen uniformly and consistently, not one fell a victim to that 
fearful disease, and very few had the slightest symptoms of an attack. 
The following statements, which were received from respectable indi- 
viduals soon after the disease had disappeared from the city, may be 
relied on with the fullest confidence : 

396. " In stating my views of a simple diet," says Dr. >inos Pollard? 
" as a means of preserving health and preventing disease, I must neces- 
sarily be brief, for want of time. I think I have the most ample evidence 
of its salutary and conservative effects in my own person. I had been 
afflicted, both before and during my medical studies, with the worst of 
diseases — chronic dyspepsia — from which I never obtained any permanent 
relief until about eighteen months since, when I put myself on the simple 
mode of living recommended in your lectures. For nearly a year, I sub- 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 239 

sisted principally upon coarse wheat-meal bread and milk, with great 
advantage to my health ; when, happening to get some milk which tasted 
and smelt of garlics, I became so disgusted with it that, in May last, 
(1832,) I exchanged my milk for spring water, which, with the coarse 
bread, has constituted my diet mainly ever since. During the past summer, 
and especially the cholera season, my professional duties were exceedingly 
arduous ; and I often felt myself nearly worn out, for want of rest and 
Bleep. Yet, through the whole sickness, I subsisted on one pound per day 
of coarse, unleavened, wheat-meal crackers, with some fruit and spring 
water, and experienced no disorders of the stomach or bowels, but enjoyed, 
and still continue to enjoy, far better health than I have experienced before 
for the last fifteen years. I also gained several pounds in weight during 
the cholera season. Many people, and among them, some of my own pro- 
fession, have asserted that simple vegetable diet is conducive to, and in 
many cases has actually produced, cholera. Both in hospital and private 
practice, I have taken considerable pains to investigate these matters, and 
in not a single instance have I been able to verify their assertions ; but, on 
the contrary, I have uniformly found, that every person who has strictly 
and judiciously observed such a diet, under a well-regulated general regi- 
men, has not only escaped the cholera, but enjoyed excellent general 
health."* 

397. Dr. D. M. Rees — whose practice and success were at least equal 
to any other physician's in New York — declares, that when the cholera 
broke out in that city, (and he was called to practise among it,) he found 
that the disease was making its greatest ravages among the excessive flesh- 
eaters : and he, consequently, went home and requested his family to 
abstain entirely from the use of flesh duing the continuance of the 
epidemic in the city ; and he and his family subsisted wholly on a vege- 
table and milk diet while the cholera prevailed, without having any thing 
of the disease, except in one instance, near the close of the sickness, when 
Mrs. R., without his knowledge, partook of flesh-meat, and, in a few hours 
after, was taken with diarrhoea. Precisely the same thing happened to 
Mr. Henry R. Piercy and his wife : and Dr. Rees says, that all who con- 
formed strictly to his advice wholly escaped the disease. 

398. " Dr. Tappan, who supermtonded the Park Hospital, has assured 
me," says Mr. Graham, " that out of twelve house-pupils (students of medi- 
cine and young physicians) who assisted him in the hospital during the 
prevalence of the cholera, Mr. Sharrock, who had lived more than a year 
very strictly on a simple vegetable diet, was the only one who entirely 

* Graham's Iiectures, vol. il., p. 247. 



240 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

escaped all symptoms of the disease ; all the others being attacked more or 
less violently, and some quite severely." Mr. Graham gives a great many 
more instances of persons who enjoyed good health, and were protected 
from the cholera, while they lived upon a purely vegetable diet ; and this 
mode of living has made such rapid progress in several parts of the 
United States, that Graham Houses (that is, hotels where neither animal 
food nor fermented liquors are provided) are as common as Temperance 
Cofifee Houses in this country. 

399. The observations of the poet Shelley may aptly conclude this por- 
tion of the subject : " There is no disease, bodily or mental, which the 
adoption of vegetable diet and pure water has not infallibly mitigated, 
wherever the experiment has been fairly tried. Debility is gradually con- 
verted into strength ; disease into healthfulness ; madness, in all its 
hideous variety — from the ravings of the fettered maniac to the unaccount- 
able irrationalities of ill-temper that make a hell of domestic life — into a 
calm and considerate evenness of temper, that alone might ojffer a certain 
pledge of the future moral reformation of society. On a natural system 
of diet, old age would be our last and our only malady ; the term of our 
existence would be protracted ; we should enjoy life, and no longer pre- 
clude others from the enjoyment of it ; all sensational delights would be 
infinitely more exquisite and perfect ; the very sense of being would then 
be a continued pleasure — such as we now feel it in some few and favored 
moments of our youth. By all that is sacred in our hopes for the human 
race, I conjure those who love happiness and truth, to give a fair trial to 
the vegetable system. Eeasoning is surely superfluous on a subject whose 
merits an experience of six months would set at rest for ever. But it is 
only among the enlightened and benevolent that so gTeat a sacrifice of 
appetite and prejudice can be expected ; even though its ultimate excel- 
lence should not admit of dispute. It is found easier, by the shortrsighted 
victims of disease, to palliate their torments by medicine, than prevent 
them by regimen. The vulgar, of all ranks, are invariably sensual and 
indocile ; yet I cannot but feel persuaded that, when the benefits of vege- 
table diet are mathematically proved — when it is as clear that those who 
live naturally are exempt from premature death, as that one is not nine — 
the most sottish of mankind will feel a preference towards a long and 
tranquil, contrasted with a short and painful life." 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. /tl 



CHAPTER X. 



VEGETABLE DIET CONDUCIVE TO SYMMETRY AND NORMAL DEVELOPMENT 
OF THE HUMAN FRAME. 

400. There are so many causes influencing the development of the 
human frame, and either contributing to or preventing its approximation 
to an ideal type of perfect symmetry and beauty, that I shall not attempt 
here to enumerate them. There cannot be a doubt, however, that, after 
birth, food has a very considerable influence. It has been shown that aU 
animal bodies are in a state of constant mutation ; millions of atoms are 
daily separating from our corporeal frame ; and their place is supplied by 
newly organized matter, received from our food. Air, exercise, and many 
other circumstances, will, of course, materially influence the changes con- 
stantly taking place ; but, all other things being equal, the more' natural 
and appropriate the food, the more complete and normal will be the 
development. The lower ranks of creation supply us with many instances 
of the influence of food over development. 

401. " If bees are deprived of their queen, and are supplied with comb 
containing young worker-brood only, they will select one or more to be 
educated as queens ; w^hich, by having a royal cell erected for their habita- 
tion, and being fed with royal jelly for not more than two days, when i^hey 
emerge from the pupa state (though, if they had remained in the cells 
which they originally inhabited, they would have turned out workers) will 
come forth complete queens, with their form, instincts, and powers of 
generation entirely different. Thus can a larger and warmer house, (for the 
royal cells are affirmed to enjoy a higher temperature than those of the 
other bees,) a different and more pungent kind of food, and a vertical 
instead of a horizontal posture, in the fii'st place, gave a bee a differently 
shaped tongue and mandibles ; render the surface of its posterior tibiee flat 
instead of concave ; deprive them of the fringe of hairs that forms the 
basket for carrying the masses of pollen ; of the auricle and pecten which 
enable the workers to use these tibiae as pincers ; and of the brush that 
lines the inside of the plantag. They lengthen its abdomen ; alter its color 
and clothing ; give a curve to its sting ; deprive it of its wax-pockets, 
and of the vessels for secreting that substance ; and render its ovaries 
more conspicuous, and capable, of yielding female as well as male eggs. 
These seemingly trivial circumstances, just enumerated, altogether alter 

11 



242 BEST FOOD OF MAN, 



the instincts of these creatures. They give to one description of animals 
address and industry ; and to the other astonishing fecundity. They change 
the very passions, tempers, and manners. The very same foetus, if fed 
with more pungent food, in a higher temperature and in a vertical position, 
becomes a female destined to enjoy love, to burn with jealousy and anger, 
to be incited to vengeance, and to pass her time without labor ; whereas 
this very same foetus, if fed with more simple food, in a lower temperature, 
in a more confined and horizontal habitation, comes forth a worker, jealous 
for the good of the community, a defender of the public rights, enjoying 
an immunity from the stimulus of sexual appetite ; laborious, industrious, 
patient, ingenious, skilful ; incessantly engaged in the nurture of the 
young ; in collecting honey and pollen ; in elaborating wax ; in construct- 
ing cells and the like ; paying the most respectful and assiduous attention 
to objects which, had its ovaries been developed, it would have hated, and 
pursued with the most vindictive fui'y till it had destroyed them !" * 

402. The organs connected with digestion are the most readily influenced 
by a change of food ; but all the other organs and functions are more or 
less aflected by it. According to Sir Everard Home,f the digastric muscle 
in birds of prey is so small as not to be easily detected ; but if a bird of 
this kind be compelled to live on grain, the muscle becomes so large that 
it could not be recognized as belonging to a bird of prey. Mr. Hunter 
kept a seagull for a year upon grain, and found the strength of the muscle 
very much augmented. The South American ostrich is the native of a 
more productive soil than the African ostrich ; the consequence is, that 
the gastric glands of the former are less complex and numerous than those 
of the latter, and the triturating organ is less developed.^ 

403. We have also many accounts of remarkable changes produced 
upon other animals, as well as upon human beings, by a change of diet ; 
for in proportion as the food is more or less nutritious, and more or less 
stimulating, in the same proportion will each organ of the body, as well 
as each particle of that organ, vary. If sufficiently nutritious diet be not 
given to the young, normal development is arrested ; and if food of too 
stimulating a nature be supplied, all the processes of assimilation and 
growth are hurried on too rapidly ; certain portions of the body receive 
prematurely their full growth, while others are retarded ; the body, there- 
fore, as a whole, is either imperfect or deformed. "Animal food — possess- 
ing a greater proportion of stimulating power to its quantity of nutrient 

* Kirby and Spence's Introduction to Entomology, vol. il., p. 129, &c 
t Lectures on Comparative Anatomy, vol; i., p. 271. 
t Ibid., vol. i., p. 293. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 243 

matter — more rapidly exhausts the vital properties, aud wastes the sub- 
stance of the organs ; it accelerates all the functions of the system ; and 
renders the vital changes less complete, and the general results of the vital 
economy less perfect. There is no law of organic life, extending over the 
whole animal and vegetable kingdoms, which is more general and more 
certain than this. The slower the growth of organic bodies, consistently 
with the perfectly healthy and vigorous condition and action of the vital 
powers, the more complete are the vital processes, and the more perfect 
and symmetrical is the general development. Indeed, this law, or one very 
analogous to it, extends throughout the material world, and governs the 
formation of all material bodies. Even those crystals of the mineral 
kingdom which are formed most slowly, and, as it were, in the undisturbed 
tranquillity and serenity of nature, are the most perfect and the most 
beautiful. In the vital economy of the human body all the changes con- 
cerned in the nourishment and development of the system are the most 
healthfully slow and complete, when the food is purely vegetable ; and it 
therefore must follow, from every known physiological principle in the 
human constitution, that — all other things being equal — a pure aud well- 
chosen vegetable diet is most conducive to completeness of bodily develop- 
ment and perfectness of symmetry and beauty.* 

404. When I contend that vegetable food is most conducive to this end, 
I do not assert that marked eflfects will be the inunediate consequence of a 
change from an animal to a vegetable diet ; for, as already said, the pro- 
cesses of decay and reproduction, though constant, are necessarily slow ; 
nor yet do I affirm that, upon a well-chosen vegetable diet, a plain child 
may become an Apollo Belvidere, or a Yenus de Medicis ; but that a cer- 
tain amelioration of form and feature will be the consequence, there is not 
the least reason to doubt. 

405. The effects of fruit and farinacea on the bulk and weight of the 
human body, vary according to circumstances ; such as the kind of vege- 
tables used ; the stimulants that are taken with them ; the health of the 
individual ; the comparative energy of the assimilating and excreting func- 
tions ; the degree of bodily exercise, &c. Dr. Cheyne is said to have been 
reduced by this diet from the enornious weight of thirty-two stones to ten. 
(370.) Others, who have been thin and emaciated, have become much 
stouter by adopting it; and some have experienced no change at all. 
When I first commenced an exclusively vegetable diet, my weight was 
12st. 8ilb. ; and, during eighteen months, the only variations were one or 
two pounds more, and occasionally one or two pounds less. During the 

♦ Graham's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 148. 



244 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

time here stated, my occupation, exercise, and mode of living, were the 
same as before, usually taking a moderate portion of ale, porter, wine, or 
other stimulants. Afterwards, all diflfiisible stimulants were discontinued ; in 
consequence of which my weight was reduced (in the course of eighteen 
months) to list. 7-o-lbs. Other instances which have come to my knowledge 
might be here introduced ; and they all appear to prove that, when an 
excess of fluids is not taken, a natural diet has a tendency to produce and 
maintain that due admixture of muscular tissue and fat which is the most 
consistent with normal development, and the best suited to mental and 
bodily activity. There is therefore no inconsistency in stating, that upon 
a well-regulated vegetable diet, the corpulent may become thinner and 
more agile, easier in their breathing, and less exposed to the numerous 
dangers which daily threaten and frequently destroy them ; while a shat- 
tered and emaciated frame may, under the same mild and nutritious diet, 
be restored to a healthy and natural state. The following facts may serve 
to confirm these remarks ; but they are introduced to prove the perfect 
consistency of symmetry and beauty with a vegetable diet, rather than to 
show the necessity for such a diet to produce such effects ; for it is equally 
true that many, upon a diet chiefly animal, are noted for similar qualities. 

406. The Persians — who live chiefly on pilau, or boiled rice, and fruit — 
are acknowledged to be a race of great strength and beauty of form. 
"Judging from the accounts of all navigators who have visited the 
Friendly and Society Isles, I am inclined to think," says a recent voyager, 
" that the people of Marquesas and Washington Islands excel in beauty and 
grandeur of form, in regularity of features and of color, all the other South 
Sea Islanders. The men are almost all tall, robust, aid well made. We 
did not see a single cripple, nor deformed person ; but such general beauty 
and regularity of form, that it greatly excited our astonishment. Many 
of them might very well have been placed by the side of the most cele- 
brated masterpieces of antiquity, and would have lost nothing by the com- 
parison. One man (a native of Nukahiwa) whom we carefully measured, 
corresponded perfectly, in every part, with the Apollo Belvidere. The 
food of these people consists of bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, bananas, yams, 
batatas, kc, and mostly in a natural state." 

407. Adam Smith, in his " Wealth of Nations," informs us, that the 
most beautiful women in the British dominions are said to be (the greater 
part of them) from the lower rank of people in Ireland, who are generally 
fed with potatoes. The peasantry of Lancashire and Cheshire, also, who 
live principally on potatoes and buttermilk, are celebrated as the hand- 
somest race in England. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 245 

408. The interesting natives of Pitcairn's Island, who sprang from the 
matineers of his Britannic Majesty's ship Bounty, strikingly illustrate the 
principles before us : " Yams constitute their principal food, either boiled, 
baked, or mixed with cocoanut made into cakes, and eaten with molasses 
extracted from the taro-root. Taro-root is no bad substitute for bread ; 
and bananas, plantains, and appoi, are wholesome and nutritive fruits. 
The common beverage is water ; but they make a tea from the tea-plant, 
flavored with ginger, and sweetened with the juice of the sugar-cane. They 
but seldom kill a pig ; living mostly on fruit and vegetables. With this 
simple diet, early rising, and taking a great deal of exercise, they are sub- 
ject to few diseases ; and Captain Beechey says, they are certainly a finer 
and more athletic ra'^e than is usually found among the families of man- 
kind. The young men, all born on this island, were finely formed, athletic, 
and handsome ; their countenances open and pleasing, indicating unruffled 
good-humor. Their teeth are described as beautifully white, like the finest 
ivory, and perfectly regular, without a single exception." 

409. Humboldt informs us, that he never saw a hunchbacked Mexican 
Indian, and that they seem to be exempt from every species of deformity. 
" The Indians of Mexico, on the Tobasco river," says another very intelli- 
gent gentleman, who had resided a number of years among them, " subsist 
almost entirely on vegetable food : their principal article of diet is Indian 
corn. Those who abstain from the use of ardent spirits are muscular and 
strong ; and among them are to be found models for the sculptor."'* 

410. Many nations who feed upon flesh are noted for qualities directly 
opposed to these ; as the inhabitants of the Andeman Islands, who seldom 
exceed five feet in stature, with limbs disproportionately slender and ill- 
formed, together with high shoulders and large heads : their aspect is 
extremely uncouth. The same may be said of the Calmucks, of the 
natives of Van Diemen's Land, and of the New Hollanders. " The inha- 
bitants of Northern Europe and Asia," says Professor Lawrence,f " the 
Laplanders, Samoiedes, Ostiacs, Tungooses, Burats, and Kamtschatdales, 
as well as the Esquimaux in the northern, and the natives of Terra del 
Fuego in the southern extremity of America, are the smallest, weakest 
and least brave people of the globe, although they live almost entirely on 
flesh, and that often raw." 

411. The Indians of Patagonia, and of the great Pampas or plains of 
South America, seem to form the most remarkable exception to the general 
rule with regard to flesh-eating tribes and nations. The earliest accounts 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. ii., p. 166. 
t Lectures, vol. ii., p. 186. 



246 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

which we have of the Patagonians, describe them as ahnost a race of 
g-iants ; some of them measuring ten or eleven feet, and being, on an ave- 
rage, much taller than any other known portion of the human family, and 
every way well proportioned. These accounts, however, seem to have been 
greatly exaggerated. Bougainville, in 1767, landed amongst the Patago- 
nians. Of their size he remarks : " They have a fme shape : among those 
whom we saw, not one was below five feet ten inches and a quarter, (Eng- 
lish,) nor above six feet two inches and a half in height. Their gigantic 
appearance arises from their prodigiously broad shoulders, the size of their 
heads, and the thickness of all their limbs. They are robust and well fed : 
their nerves are braced, and their muscles strong, &c." Wallis, who 
visited them shortly afterwards, says : " The stature of the greatest part 
of them was from five feet ten inches to six feet." Captain King, who 
visited them in 1827, gives precisely the same dimensions ; but says : " It 
is possible that the preceding generation may have been a larger race of 
people ; for none that we saw could have been alive at the time of Wallis's 
or Byron's voyage." Messrs. Armes and Coan, the American missionaries, 
who have recently spent three months among them, state that the present 
inhabitants of Patagonia fall very considerably short of the descriptions 
given of their ancestors, some two or three hundred years back ; " the tall- 
est of them not exceeding six feet two inches in height, and few of them 
reaching this. They are evidently," says Mr. Armes, *' a degraded r^ce of 
men ; and are still becoming more degenerated." 

412. Sylvester Graham says : " If any dependence can be placed on the 
opinions of those who have written and testified concerning this people, 
the Patagonians originally sprang from a race of islanders of very great 
bodily size and harmony of proportions, and who were strictly vegetable- 
eaters. If this is true, it would naturally require •b, succession of several 
generations, under the most unfavorable circumstances and diet of savage 
life, to degenerate the race to the diminished size of other flesh-eating 
tribes." They live in an exceedingly mild and uniform climate ; the atmo- 
sphere is dry and salubrious, and they take a great deal of exercise in the 
open air ; all which circumstances are favorable to their physical develop- 
ment. 

413. The size, symmetry, and beauty of form, in nations and individuals, 
are modified by so great a variety of circumstances — such as climate, air, 
occupation, &c., — that no indubitable evidence, as to the influence of food 
in producing these qualities, can be obtained by a mere reference to history 
and experience ; yet the examples they aSbrd us are sufficiently clear and 
numerous to confirm our physiological deductions. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 247 



CHAPTER XI. 

VEGETABLE DIET CONDUCIVE TO THE ACUTENESS AND PERFECTION OF THE 
ORGANS OF SPECIAL SENSE. 

414. We must not, however, rest contented with comparing the respect- 
ive influence of an animal and a vegetable diet upon the nervous power, 
or the mere organic life of man : we have further to consider him as a 
sentient, intellectual, and moral being ; and to discover which kind of 
food is best adapted to develop his sensorial power, and the more important 
and more excellent part of his nature. A man may possess a sound body, 
along with great muscular force, and yet know little of the refined plea- 
sures of sense, and still less of the intellectual, sympathetic, moral and reli- 
gious pleasures in which man's highest happiness consists. We have 
already seen, that all the organs of special sense, except hearing, have a 
direct relation to the natural food of each animal : we may therefore safely 
conclude, that those organs will be best developed, and their functions best 
executed, by a strict adherence to that diet for which the structure is spe- 
cially adapted ; and that all substances which contain a greater amount of 
stimulation than necessary, will tend to deteriorate the functions of those 
organs. 

415. Mr. Graham says :* " It has been a matter of very frequent and 
extensive observation, that those who, having been always accustomed to 
the use of flesh-meat, abandon it entirely, and subsist on a plain and simple 
vegetable diet, experience a very great improvement in their special senses. 
I have seen many such instances within the last six or seven years ; and 
some of them of a very marked character. This improvement, however, is 

. generally perceived much sooner in the smell and taste than in the sight and 
hearing ; and, in some cases, the sudden substitution of a less for a more sti- 
mulating diet, will cause a temporary depression of the physiological pow- 
ers and functions of the system, and especially those appertaining to organic 
life ; and while this depression, or species of indirect debility, continues, 
the special senses, and particularly sight and hearing, are often, to a consi- 
derable extent, involved in a general effect, and their functional powei'S 
are commensurately diminished ; in consequence, however, of a relaxation 
of the anatomical mechanism of the organs, rather than an abatement of 

* Lectures, vol. il., p. 299. 



848 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

the sensorial power : but as soon as the vital properties of the body 
become perfectly adapted to the character of the new diet, the general 
tone of the system is elevated, and the functional powers of the special 
senses greatly improved ; provided always, that the vegetable diet is of a 
proper kind and condition, and the individual is not intemperate in quan- 
tity, nor improper in his regimen and habits in any other respect ; for 
every species of excess is necessarily injurious to the special senses, and 
none more so than gluttony and licentiousness." Dr. Lambe, who paid 
great attention to the subject, and noted the effects of a vegetable diet in 
a great variety of cases, confidently states, that " not only are the special 
senses improved by the disuse of flesh, but this improvement pervades 
every organ, and influences every function of every part of the system. 
Observation shows that there is no organ of the body which, under the 
use of vegetable food, does not receive a healthy increase of its peculiar 
sensibility, or that power which is imparted to it by the nervous system." 

416. These remarks were strikingly illustrated in the person of Caspar 
Hauser, previously mentioned, (132,) who is supposed to have been con- 
fined in a narrow, dark dungeon from early childhood to the age of seven- 
teen, when he was released, and was found at the gates of Nuremburg, 
on the 26th of May, 1828. During the whole time of his confinement, he 
subsisted on coarse broMm bread and water exclusively, and for a long time 
after he was found he possessed considerable acuteness and power of sight, 
hearing, smell, taste, and touch. " It has been proved, by experiments 
carefully made," says his learned biographer, " that in a perfectly dark 
night he could distinguish different dark colors, such as blue and green, 
from each other. He could walk anywhere as well in the dark as in the 
light, and was astonished to see others groping and stumbling along in the 
dark. When, at the commencement of twilight, a common eye could not 
distinguish more than three or four stars in the sky, he could already dis- 
cern the different groups of stars, and could distinguish the different single 
stars of which they were composed from each other, according to their 
magnitude and the peculiarities of their colored light." 

417. Much of this ability to distinguish objects and colors in the dark 
was undoubtedly owing to his eyes having been long accustomed to depriva- 
tion of light : he consequently experienced great inconvenience, at first, 
from the full light of day ; but, as his eyes became gradually more used to 
the light, his power and distinctness of vision did not diminish, and he 
became as remarkable for these properties by day as he had previously 
been by night, and could distinctly see small objects far beyond the reach 
of ordinary vision. " His sight," says his biographer, " was as sharp in 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 249 

distinguishing objects near, as it was penetrating in discerning them at a 
distance. In dissecting plants, he noticed subtle distinctions and delicate 
particles which had entirely escaped the observation of others." His 
senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch, were equally remarkable ; as the 
following extracts from his biography attest : 

418' '' His hearing was scarcely less acute than his sight. When walk- 
ing in the fields, he once heard, at a distance comparatively great, the foot- 
steps of several persons ; and he could distinguish these persons from each 
other by their walk." He could distinguish apple, pear, and plum trees 
from each other, at a considerable distance, by the smell of their leaves. 
After he had become accustomed to eating flesh, he could no longer distin- 
guish sounds with so great a nicety as before ; and there can be little 
doubt, from the testimony of his biographer, that his change of diet con- 
siderably diminished the acuteness of all his senses. Many other examples 
might be given, if necessary, to prove the great influence which a natural 
diet has in perfecting the organs of special sense ; and instances are not 
uncommon of persons experiencing a great exaltation of the senses, after 
discontinuing a flesh diet, to which they had been long accustomed, and 
adopting a plain, simple, and nutritious vegetable diet. This improvement, 
however, cannot be expected to take place suddenly after the change ; nay, 
the first effects might perhaps be a diminution of sensibility, particularly 
of sight and hearing, until the system became used to the less stimulating 
diet — as was shown to be the case with regard to corporeal strength^ 
(255 :) but in neither case is there any real loss of power — as a little timo 
and patience will sufficiently testify. 



CHAPTER XH. 

VEGETABLE DIET CONDUCIVE TO REAL SENSUAL PLEASURE AND ENJOYMENT. 

" So that the pains of poverty are removed, simple fare can give a relish equal to the most 
expensive luxuries." — ^EpicuKirs. 

419. The prevalent notion that vegetable diet requires the continual 
exercise of self-denial, and considerably diminishes the pleasures arising 
from the gratification of the palate, is with many persons the most weighty 
11* 



250 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

objection to its adoption. This notion, however, is decidedly erroneous, 
and not one fact can be brought to support it. Under a fruit and farina- 
ceous diet, the organs of smell and taste become much more sensitive, and 
the sensations resulting from the gratification of a natural appetite upon 
this food are much more exquisite and refined, and much more constant, 
than can possibly be experienced on an animal or mixed diet, which 
req\^ires great variety, continual changes, and many additions from the 
vegetable world, to prevent disgust. I do not assert that the vegetable- 
eater looks forward with such anxious cravings to an expected meal as the 
hon vivant, who has, perhaps, been under the necessity of rousing the appe- 
tite of an already surfeited system by bitters and stimulants ; this would be 
to withdraw his attention from higher and more worthy pursuits, and to 
convert the supreme enjoyment of a moral and intellectual bemg into the 
inferior pleasures of the sensualist. 

420. The man who has long habituated himself to that food which is 
best adapted to his organization and instincts, can, during many hours, 
pursue his mental and bodily avocations without fatigue, and without hav- 
ing his attention withdrawn from higher objects of interest by any gnawing 
or painful craving for food, and without having his reflections disturbed by 
the prospective pleasures of the table. When the hour of refreshment 
arrives, he can defer the gratification of his appetite with much less incon- 
venience than one who lives on a more stimulating diet ; but when he does 
sit down to his healthy repast, he eats with a zest which a natural appetite 
only can impart ; and upon the most simple preparations of fruits, roots, 
rice, and other farinaceous articles, he experiences a pleasure far more 
exquisite than the richest and most varied dishes can yield to the man who 
indulges a perverted appetite. It is true, that some who have but lately 
adopted a vegetable diet, meet with many tempting dishes of animal food, 
of which they find it difficult to deny themselves ; and to persevere, requires 
a firm resolution, and a mind well convinced of the advantages to be de- 
rived from the change ; but when time has familiarized the organs to more 
simple preparations, and the mind has been fully satisfied as to the propri- 
ety of the change and the benefits resulting from it, the former dishes will 
become more offensive than pleasing, and the perfumes arising from them 
will only increase the disrelish for them. Since my commencement of 
vegetable regimen, I have several times {)artaken of animal food again, for 
the purpose of making observations on the change effected by diet on the 
secretions, &c., and always had considerable difficulty in overcoming the 
disgust which the taste of flesh at first excited. The pulse was accele- 
rated, the breathing became more rapid, the temper more irritable, the 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 251 

mind less collected, and the feelings generally less comfortable. In tlie 
course of two or three days the antipathy was overcome, and the other bad 
effects gradually subsided, but not entirely ; and I always returned to a 
more simple and more natural diet with great pleasure, as upon it my 
enjoyment was much more complete. " It is generally supposed," says Dr. 
Alcott, " that he who confines himself to a simple diet soon brings his sto- 
mach into such a state, that the slightest departure from his usual habits, 
for once only, produces serious inconveniences ; and this, indeed, is urged 
as an argument against simplicity itself. Yes, how strange ! How much 
more natural to suppose that the more perfect the health of the stomach, 
the better it will bear for a time with slight or even serious departures 
from truth and nature ! How much more natural to suppose that perfect 
health is the very best defence against all the causes which tend to invite 
or to provoke disease ! And what it would be natural to infer, is proved 
by experience to be strictly true. The thorough-going vegetable-eater 
can make a meal for once, or perhaps feed for a day or so, on substances 
which would ahnost kill many others ; and can do so with comparative 
impunity." 

421. But how are people to be convinced of the truth of these observa- 
tions ? The testimony of others can have little influence on the minds of 
those whose only experience is on one side of the question, or who have 
but casually tried a less stimulating diet. They think it impossible that 
articles which they find so insipid should yield so much pleasure as others 
profess to derive from them ; and, therefore, deem it unnecessary to give 
the subject any fui'ther 'consideration. Thus are they insensibly led to 
believe their own mode of enjoyment the best, and to pity or ridicule those 
who are happy and contented with a simpler fare than their own. (138.) 
But the physiological inquirer w^ill easily detect and expose the error here 
involved. Whatever our present habits may be, it is indubitably true that 
the purest and most satisfactory gratification of the palate is produced by 
those alimentary substances which stimulate the organs no more than is 
consistent with the healthy discharge of their functions, and which have a 
direct relation to the whole of the human economy. Even in a raw, or un- 
prepared state, these substances are capable of yielding great satisfaction to 
a natural appetite ; and if half tiLie attention- w^ere paid to cooking, preserv- 
ing, and otherwise preparing the innumerable varieties of fruits, roots, 
grain, &c., which is now ahnost exclusively devoted to similar operations 
on the flesh of various animals, with what an immense profusion of nutri- 
tious and agreeable food would the vegetable world then supply us ! 

422. But the prevailing customs and habits of the present age, in 



262 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

England, are such that, both at public and private tables, almost every 
vegetable preparation is spoiled by admixtures of animal matter, in one 
shape or other ; even plum-puddings must be polluted by an abundance of 
suet, and the pastry defiled by kneading with lard and other kinds of fat, 
which to the real Pythagorean must be exceedingly disagreeable. It is 
well for him, however, that his taste has become so natural as to be grati- 
fied with the simplest fare ; so that he has no great cause to regret if, at a 
friendly feast, no special regard has been paid to his peculiarities. But 
there can be little doubt that, as more correct notions respecting diet pre- 
vail, the gentler sex will exert their influence in effecting a change ; or, at 
any rate, in providing suitable dishes for those who have an utter dislike to 
fish, flesh, and fowl ; and to all vegetables that have been prepared with 
animal matter, except eggs, milk, butter, cheese, &c., to which few vege- 
tarians object. It is generaUy supposed that pepper, salt, and other 
condiments, are more necessary to vegetable than to animal food ; whereas 
quite the reverse is the case ; these stimulants may assist when flesh and 
other improper food is taken, but for a natural diet no such articles are 
required. Sugar, treacle, and honey may be added, when the amount of 
saccharine matter is deficient ; but even salt, which is considered by many 
indispensable to the health both of man and animals, is decidedly injurious 
when taken in large quantities. All aliments contain certain portions of 
salt, and in these minute quantities it is salutary ; but, when taken in 
excess, there is reason to believe it is decomposed in the system ; and its 
metallic base [sodium) assists in forming urate of soda, which occurs so 
frequently in gout and rheumatism. (317 and 340.) In disordered states 
of the alimentary canal, from improper food, worms, &c., salt is an inva- 
luable medicine, to which all animals will resort by instinct ; but, as a 
daily condiment to a natural diet, it cannot fail to be pernicious. It is 
unnecessary to advocate, at any great length, the superiority of vegetable 
over animal diet, in producing real sensual enjoyment ; as a few months' 
experience would be much more convincing than any other evidence. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 253 



CHAPTER Xin. 

TEGETABLE DIET FAVORABLE TO MENTAL EXERTION AND INTELLECTUAL 

CULTURE. 

423. The organic structure and physiological laws which determine the 
natural food of man are, in general, so briefly and superficially noticed, in 
connection with the subject of diet, and the results of practical experience 
are so little known or considered, that most men think vegetable food 
inadequate to impart strength and vigor to the human frame ; but sufficient 
evidence has been adduced, (Chapter lY.,) and abundant more might be 
had, if necessary, to prove that the opinion is unsupported, either theore- 
tically or practically. Though many have entertained doubts on this 
point, there are few who do not admit the superiority of vegetable over 
animal food, in favoring all mental processes and intellectual labors ; as 
well as in regulating the temper, and checking all inordinate exercise of 
the passions. ^ 

424. Theophrastus, the disciple of Plato and Aristotle, who died at the 
age of one hundred and seven, says that " eating much, and feeding upon 
flesh, makes the mind more dull, and drives it to the extreme of madness." 
Diogenes, the cynic, attributed the dulness and stupidity of the ancient 
athletae to their excessive use of the flesh of swine and oxen ; and the 
Calmucks, and other people who subsist principally or entirely on animal 
food, are noted for similar qualities. Sir John Sinclair observes : " Vege- 
table food has a happy influence on the powers of the mind ; and tends to 
preserve delicacy of feeling, and liveliness of imagination, and an acuteness 
of judgment seldom enjoyed by those who make a free use of animal food. 
The celebrated Franklin ascertained, that a vegetable diet — promoting 
clearness of ideas and quickness of perception — is to be preferred by those 
who labor with the mind. Vegetable aliment — as never over-distending 
the vessels, or loading the system — never interrupts the stronger motions 
of the mind ; while the heat, fulness, and weight of animal food, is an 
enemy to its vigorous efforts. Temperance, then, does not so much consist 
in the quantity, for that always will be regulated by our appetite, as in the 
quality — namely, a large proportion of vegetable aliment."* 

425. " In proof of the assertion," continues Sir John, " that a vegetable 

• "Code of Health," vol. i., p. 42T. 



254 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

diet promotes clearness of ideas and quickness of thought, and that a 
transition from vegetable to animal food produces injurious efFects, a 
friend of mine states, that he has more than once selected, from his 
tenants' children in Ireland, a boy remarkable for that smartness of intelli- 
gence so common in the Irish youth, while in the capacity of errand-boys 
on the farm, or helpers in the stables, and before they became pampered 
•with better food than their parents' cabin afforded. The lads, at first, 
were lively and intelligent, and displayed a degree of shrewdness exceeding 
what is met with from the youth of a more elevated walk in England. 
But he invariably found that, in proportion as those boys became accus- 
tomed to animal food, and, according to common notions, were better fed, 
they relaxed in activity, and became dull and stupid ; and he is confident 
that the change in the disposition was the effect of the change of diet ; 
and was not owing to corruption of mind from intercourse with the other 
servants. In fact, they lost aU their vivacity of manner, so inherent in the 
Irish boys, whether born in the vast bog of Allen, or in the dry and rocky 
mountains of Mayo and Galway. He is, therefore, inclined to think that 
the character of the people does not depend so much upon the climate and 
soil as upon food ; for no part of the globe can differ, more than those 
parts of that kingdom." 

426. " These facts in relation to the Irish youth," says Mr. Graham, "are 
very important, and deserve far more attention from philosophers and 
philanthropists than has ever been given to them. The Irish peasantry, 
wherever they are known in the civilized world, are proverbial for their 
peculiar expressions, commonly called Irish hulls, a.nd which are generally 
considered as attributable to their peculiar national stupidity, or natural 
crookedness of mind, if I may so express myself. Whereas, directly the 
opposite of this is true. There is probably no class of people on earth 
more remarkable for natural quickness and shrewdness of mind than the 
Irish peasantry of pure and simple habits ; but they are, as a general fact, 
entirely destitute of the advantages of education, and, therefore, have a 
very limited and imperfect use and knowledge of language. The conse- 
quence is, that their intellectual quickness and activity, with their ignorance 
of the grammatical force and arrangement of words, continually lead 
them to express their ideas in a very peculiar — generally shrewd — often 
ludicrous — but always spirited and witty manner. Their very blunders, 
therefore, are really evidences of their remarkably natural quickness and 
activity of mind ; and hence, when well educated, they are often found 
among the most eloquent and witty men and able writers in the world." * 
* Graham's Lectures, vol. iL, p. 802. 



BESTFOODOFMAN. 256 

427. While Caspar Hauser (132 and 41G) continued to subsist on Ma 
simple diet of bread and water, as lie had done in his dungeon, '• the 
activity of his mind," says his learned biographer, " his fervent zeal to lay 
hold of every thing that was new to him ; his vivid, his youthfully power- 
ful and faithfully retentive memory, were such as to astonish all who wit- 
nessed them. The curiosity, the thirst for knowledge, and the inflexible 
perseverance with which he fixed his attention on any thing which he was 
determined to learn or comprehend, surpassed every thing that can be con- 
ceived of them." After he had learned regularly to eat flesh, his mental 
activity was diminished ; his eyes lost their brilliancy and expression ; his 
vivid propensity to constant activity was diminished ; the intense applica- 
tion of his mind gave way to absence and indifference ; and the quickness 
of his apprehension was also considerably diminished. 

428. In the Orphan Asylum of Albany, New York, (251,) from eighty 
to a hundred and thirty children were, in the close of 1833, changed from 
a diet which included flesh, or flesh-soup, once' a day, to a pure vegetable 
diet, regulated by physiological principles. Three years after this change 
was made, the principal teacher of the Institution thus speaks of it : " The 
efiect of the new regimen on the intellectual powers of the children has 
been too obvious and too striking to be doubted. There has been a great 
increase in their mental activity and power. The quickness and acumen 
of their perception, the vigor of their apprehension, and the power of their 
retention, daily astonish me. Indeed, they seem eager to gi'asp, with un- 
derstanding minds, almost any subject that I am capable of presenting to 
them in language adapted to their years." In Ovington's " Yoyage to 
Surat," we learn that " in their thoughts the Bannians are often more 
quick and nimble by their abstemious diet ; which renders their spirits 
more pure and subtle, and thereby greatly facilitates their comprehension 
of things. In a word, they keep their organs clear, their spirits lively, and 
their constitutions free from those diseases which a grosser diet is apt to 
create in these warm climates." 

429. " On my way to Smyrna, in Greece, in 1828," says Judge "Wood- 
rufiF, " I stopped at Syra, where I was detained, by contrary winds, about 
twenty days. I there became acquainted with Dr. Korke, an eminent 
teacher from Switzerland. He had the charge of the principal school at 
Syra, containing from two hundred to three hundred pupils. During my 
stay at Syra, I took great pleasure in visiting this school, which I did 
almost every day. I very soon began to feel and express astonishment at 
the remarkable vivacity, sprightliness, and mental activity and power of 
these children. Their memory was truly surprising. Dr. Korke assured 



266 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

me that he had never, in any country, found children equal to these for 
clearness, sprightliness, and power of intellect, for aptitude to learn and 
ability to retain. And I can truly say, that these Greek children mani- 
fested a capacity for learning which exceeded any thing I had ever before 
or have since witnessed. Dr. Korke attributed this extraordinary ability 
in his pupils, mainly to their habits of living, which were extremely sim- 
ple. Coarse unbolted w^heat-meal bread, with figs, raisins, pomegranates, 
olives, and other fruit, with water, constituted their diet. Figs and other 
fruit composed a large proportion of their food ; but I am confident they 
did not consume an ounce of flesh-meat in a month." 

430. " I spent the whiter of 1836-7 on the island of St. Croix, in the 
"West Indies," says Mr. John Burdell, of New York, " and devoted much 
of my leisure time to instructing the young slaves. The little field-negro 
children, from five to ten years old, who never saw a letter, nor had any 
idea of one till I taught them, on being promised that they should have a 
Bible given to them if they would learn to read, would, in the course of 
one w^eek, learn the alphabet, and to join a single consonant and vowel. 
In three or four weeks they would learn to read short sentences ; such as, 
* no man may put oJBT the law of God ;' and in a few months they would 
learn to read the New Testament. W ith all these little field-negroes, who 
lived on corn-meal, yams, peas, &c., there was the utmost avidity as wx^ll 
as aptitude to learn. But the little negroes of the same age in the house, 
living on what came from their master's table, (animal food, &:c.,) are 
wholly different. They are totally disinclined to receive instruction, and 
are slow to learn, like our well-fed w^hite children in the North. It is an 
irksome task to them to apply their minds to study ; and they never get a 
lesson, unless they are regularly tasked and urged on. I saw one of these 
house-children, who was tw^elve years old, and who had long been under 
the instruction of the master's daughter, and was just beginning to read a 
little in the New Testament." 

431. " The Eev. Alden Grout," says Mr. Graham, " who has recently 
returned from a mission to the Zulus, on the south-east coast of Africa 
informs us that that people depend on the products of the soil for subsist- 
ence, living mostly on corn and milk. The children go entirely naked, and 
live in the simplest manner. They are sprightly, active, and full of vivacity, 
and their aptitude to learn is almost incredible. It is a common thing for 
them, in the couree of fifteen months from the first time they ever saw a 
letter, to learn to read well in the New Testament, and to do sums in the 
fundamental rules of arithmetic. They all discover the greatest eagerness 
for knowledge ; and seem to think nothing so desirable. On leaving tliem, 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 257 

I asked what I should bring them when I returned ; they all cried out at 
once, ' Bring us more teachers ! — more books !' " * 

432. John Evelyn, after glancing (in his "Acetaria") at Cardan's opinion 
in favor of meat, says — " But this his learned antagonist utterly denies ; 
whole nations, flesh-devourers, (such as the farthest northern,) becoming 
heavy, dull, inactive, and much more stupid than the southern ; and such 
as feed much on plants are more acute, subtle, and of deeper penetration ; 
witness the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Egyptians, &c." 

433. In reply to these observations, it may perhaps be objected, that 
the English and other Europeans, who live partly upon flesh, excel most 
nations in the arts and sciences, and have extended their dominions into 
every part of the known world ; while certain other people who live on 
vegetables are remarkable only for their imbecility and inactivity. In a 
candid search after truth, however, we must carefully distinguish things 
which are inseparably connected as cause and effect, from those which, 
though they coexist, are entirely independent of each other. If Intel, 
lectual greatness and mental energy depend upon a diet of animal food, 
why are not the Laplanders, the Tungooses, the Kamtschatdales, the Esqui- 
maux, the Fuegians, the Patagonians, and others who live almost exclu- 
sively on animal food, the most intellectual people in the world ; and why is 
their political influence so circumscribed ? It is evident that a nation's 
greatness depends upon many influential circumstances besides food ; and 
the only point for which I contend is, that, all other things being equal, 
vegetable productions are more favorable to mental and moral culture 
than a diet of animal food — a position which seems fully established by 
the preceding evidence. 

434. The Hindoos have frequently been referred to, as an instance of a 
nation living solely on vegetable productions, and yet devoid of that 
bodily and mental activity which characterize more northern nations, who 
live on a mixed diet. It should be recollected, however, that their politi- 
cal, civil, religious, and social institutions, are such as entirely preclude all 
enterprise, and repress all energy of body and mind ; their climate, at the 
same time, favoring that ease and effeminacy which their laws and customs 
are so calculated to produce. But, notwithstanding the physical difficul- 
ties by which the Hindoos, as a nation, are surrounded, we find among 
them many subsisting on a pure vegetable diet, whose intellectual endow- 
ments and acquirements would have done honor to more learned nations, 
whose institutions foster and promote physical and mental greatness. 

435. Even in those countries which are considered the most civilized and 

♦ Graham's Lectures, vol. i., p, 307. 



258 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

enligliteDed, and whose inhabitants generally consume much animal food; 
we find many of their brightest exemplars discarding the use of flesh at 
their tables. Not only Pythagoras and his followers, but Menedemus, 
Zeuo the stoic, Epicurus,* and -many other philosophers of antiquity, who 
have been highly eulogized for purity of morals and profundity of thought, 
restricted themselves entirely to a diet of fruit and farinacea. Among the 
moderns, also, macy of those who have astonished the world by their dis- 
coveries in science ; who have illumined mankind by a rigorous and clear 
demonstration of truth ; and who, by the vastness of their intellectual 
powers, have shed a halo of light over the physical, mental, and moral 
sciences, were Pythagoreans in respect to diet. Our immortal ISTewton, 
while writing his great work on Optics, lived entirely without animal food. 
Lord Byron excluded flesh from all his meals, though the vegetable regi- 
men he adopted was by no means a judicious one, and was far from 
according with anatomical structure and physiological laws. Shelley — 
whose poetic power, compass of imagination, and elegant diction, have 
seldom, if ever, been surpassed — was both a rigid abstainer from flesh, and 
an able advocate of vegetable diet. Sir Richard Phillips, and some of the 
first-rate wranglers at our Universities, as well as many other literary and 
scientific characters, might be mentioned among those who, during a series 
of years, have lived upon fruit and farinaceous substances. 

436. Many of these have adopted this mode of livmg, not from a con- 
viction of its being the diet natural to man, nor from any philosophical 
reasoning on the subject ; but because they found, by experience, that they 
could pursue their studies with much greater freedom and energy than 
when flesh formed a part of their usual meals. Their ideas were clearer ; 
their spirits more buoyant ; their attention capable of being more exclu- 
sively directed to the subject under consideration ; their imagination more 
lively, yet under perfect control ; in fact, the whole of their intellectual 
and sentimental powers more active, and their propensities less powerful ; 
and, consequently, their penetration deeper, and their judgment sounder. 

437. Who is there that has not experienced the diSiculty of applying 
the mind and attention, after a full meal of animal food, to any subject 
requiring deep thought and research ? And after what is called " a good 

* The character and doctrines of Epicurus have been greatly misrepresented ; and were 
very different from those of the modern Epicurean. The former considered that a happy 
life consists in tranquillity of mind and health of body ; the first of which he endeavored to 
secure by enjoying as much of the good, and suffering as little of the evil incident to human 
nature, as possible; and the second he secured by extreme temperance; r}§ia vSoLTl 
xai ap<ro p^pcof^^svo^ ("feedingsweetly on bread and water.") 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 269 



dinner," do not most people find a considerable diminntion of mental 
energy, and a disposition to sleep, rather than to bodily or mental activity ; 
till diiJlisible stimulants have roused the dormant powers into an unna- 
tural, and therefore dangerous action ? None of these depressing effects 
are experienced by those who enjoy a more natural diet : with them, as it 
has been justly remarked, " it is morning all day long." Nor are the differ- 
ent effects of the two diets confined to these immediate impressions : they 
become gradually more permanent ; and consequently, the whole of the 
mental powers are in the one case deteriorated, and in the other improved. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



VEGETABLE DIET FAVORABLE TO THE GOVEENMENT OF THE PASSIONS AND 
PROPENSITIES, AND TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAN's MORAL POWERS. 

438. It has been previously stated (25) that cruelty and crime marked 
the progress of mankind in the use of animal - food ; and this inference 
appears to be confirmed by every fact and observation that bears upon the 
subject. It is, however, rendered much more injurious in its effects by the 
craving which it universally excites for fermented liquors, and which are 
almost rendered indispensable, when it forms a material portion of diet. 
" Where animal food is used in a great proportion," says Sir John Sinclair, 
" fermented liquors become in a great measure necessary to obviate, in 
some degree, the septic tendency of such a way of living." Upon this 
point, certain advocates of total abstinence from fermented liquors appear 
to be in error ; thinking it necessary to increase the quantity of animal 
food in their diet, in consequence of relinquishing ale, wine, and spirits. 
Physiology teaches us a directly contrary lesson, namely : that if fermented 
and distilled liquors be renounced, animal food should also be dispensed 
with. I have little doubt, the neglect of tliis rule is the cause of some 
constitutions being unable to carry out the principles of total abstinence ; 
and I have been informed, by members of the Society, that after several 
years' abstinence from diffusible stimulants, the desire for animal food has 
abated. Much better would it be for their general health if — instead of 
taking the alarm at this indication and flying to medicines, condiments, 
and other substitutes for the usual stimulants — they obeyed the voice of 



260 BESTFOOD OFMaN. 

Nature, and entirely abandoned a diet inconsistent with a rigid observance 
of their rules. Animal food is undoubtedly the cause of much mischief in 
this respect ; and so long as it shall be considered necessary to health* 
strength, and enjoyment, the root of the evil intemperance will not be 
reached. But, if the flesh of animals be discarded and a diet of fruit and 
farinacea adopted, the craving for intoxicating liquors, as well as the 
necessity for them, will vanish together. 

439. As soon as divine permission was granted to Noah and his 
descendants to eat animal food, we read that the former " planted a vine- 
yard : and he drank of the wine and was drunken."* When Jacob 
brought to his father Isaac the savory meat which he loved, we read like- 
wise "that he brought him wine and he drank."f When Judah was 
called to weeping and mourning, it, on the contrary, encouraged *' joy and 
gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking 
wine."J Solomon was weU aware of the indissoluble union existing 
between animal diet and the diff'usible stimuli : hence his sage advice — 
" Be not amongst wine-bibbers ; amongst riotous eaters of flesh. "^ The 
joint influence of these two stimulants upon the passions and propensities 
of mankind, is universally admitted ; but as the most dreadful manifesta- 
tions are generally the result of inebriation, the stimulating property of 
the solid food is overlooked, as well as the thirst it creates for the difi'usible 
stimulants. Various facts, however, prove to a demonstration, that feed- 
ing upon flesh has a much greater tendency than vegetable food to encourage 
the development and strengthen the activity of the selfish and lower pro- 
peDsities, and to give them a predominance over the intellectual and moral 
faculties. 

440. In the first place, let us glance at the widely different tempers and 
dispositions of carnivorous and herbivorous animals : the former are savage 
and ferocious creatures, that generally shun the light of day, and prowl 
about by night, that they may the more easily kill and devour their prey ; 
while the others wander tranquilly on the plains in herds, enjoy the light 
of the sun, and manifest their innocence and sociability by various playful 
sports and gambols with each other. Even the temper of the carnivorous 
animal may be greatly subdued, by rearing it upon a less stimulating diet ; 
for, if the accounts received on reputable authority are to be depended 
upon, even the tiger, when taken very young, carefully restrained from ani- 
mal food, and confined to a vegetable and milk diet, will manifest none of 

* Genesis ix 20, 21. t Ibid, xxvii. 25. 

X Isaiah xxii. 13. § Proverbs xxiii. 20. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 261 

the ferocity of its fellows ; but if it be permitted afterwards to eat flesh, 
it will become cruel and destructive. 

441. Similar evidence is also afforded by feeding the Herbivora on ani- 
mal food. Diomedes, King of Thrace, killed by Hercules, fed his mares 
with the flesh of miserable strangers, cut in pieces for the purpose, which 
made them so fierce and unmanageable that they were obliged to be kept 
in stalls of brass, and tied up with iron chains."^ " In Norway, as well as 
in some parts of Hadramant and the Coromandel coasts," says Bishop 
Heber, " the cattle are fed upon the refuse of fish, which fattens them 
rapidly, but serves, at the same time, totally to change their nature, and 
render them unmanageably ferocious." (103.) 

442. This difference of eJBfect between a flesh and a vegetable diet upon 
animals, derives additional confirmation from Scripture. Isaiah — describ- 
ing the period when universal harmony, benevolence, and love shall prevail 
on the earth — says : " The wolf and the lamb shall feed together ; and 
the lion shall eat straw like the bullock."f Now, though these may be 
regarded merely as figurative expressions, yet the prophet evidently intended 
to point out the relation which existed between the natural food of the 
lion and a ferocious disposition, and the gentleness resulting from vegetar 
ble aliment. In general, also, those nations and individuals who indulge 
much in flesh-meat are more licentious, ferocious, and cruel, than those who 
subsist on a less stimulating diet ; and men noted for barbarity and vio- 
lence have an irresistible penchant for animal food ; while those who are 
blessed with milder dispositions and more benevolent feelings, seem instinct- 
ively to adopt a vegetable diet. 

443. " The Tartars," says Sir John Sinclair, '' who live principally on 
animal food, possess a degree of ferocity of mind and fierceness of charac- 
ter which form the leading features of all carnivorous animals. On the 
other hand, a vegetable diet gives to the disposition, as in the Brahmin and 
Gentoo, a mildness of feeling directly the reverse of the former." 

444. The moral influence of food upon the temper, passions, and moral 
feelings, seems to be admitted by all who have attentively considered the 
subject. Porphyry of Tyre, who lived about the middle of the third cen- 
tury, and was a favorite disciple of Plotinus the Platonist, was of this 
opinion. " Give me a man," says he, " who considers seriously whence he 
came, and whither he must go ; and from these considerations resolves not 
to be led astray or governed by his passions. And let such a man teU me 
whether a rich animal diet is more easily procured, or incites less to irregu- 
lar passions and appetites, than a light vegetable diet. But if neither he 

* Dlodorus, book iv., chap. 1. t Chap. Ixv., ver. 25. 



262 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

nor a physician, nor, indeed, any reasonable man whatsoever, dares to 
affirm this, why do we oppress ourselves with animal food ? And why do 
we not, together with luxury and flesh-meat, throw off the encumbrances 
and snares which attend them ? It was not from those who lived on vege- 
tables that robbers, murderers, sycophants, or tyrants have proceeded, but 
from Jiesh-eaters. The necessaries of life are few and easily acquired, with- 
out violating justice, liberty, or peace of mind : whereas luxury obliges 
those vulgar souls who take delight in it, to covet riches, to give up their 
liberty, to sell justice, to misspend their time, to ruin their health, and to 
renounce the joy of an upright conscience." 

445. Lord Byron believed, that eating flesh excited men to war and 
bloodshed ; and thought 

" That Pasiphae promoted breeding cattle, 
To make the Cretans bloodier in battle. 

For we all know that English people are 

Ted upon beef — I won't say much of beer ; 
Because 'tis liquor only, and (being far 

From this my subject) has no business here; 
We know, too, they are very fond of war — 

A pleasure (like all pleasures) rather dear : 
So were the Cretans ; from which I infer, 
That beef and battles were both owing to her."* 

His historian also says : " One day, as I sat opposite to him, employed, I 
suppose, rather earnestly over a beefsteak, after watching me for a few 
seconds, he said, in a grave tone of mquiry : * Moore, don't you find eating 
beefsteaks makes you ferocious ?' " 

446. Opinions, however, are of little value upon this subject, unless sup- 
ported by evidence ; and many historical accounts, as well as experiments^ 
might be given in corroboration of these views ; but, as they may be found 
in most works on geography and general history, two or three instances 
may here suffice. When Homer speaks of the Lotophagi — a people who 
fed upon the fruit of the lotus — he seems to attribute their hospitality and 
good-nature to the mildness of their food : 

"A hospitable race ; 
Not prone to ill, nor strange to foreign guest. 
They eat, they drink, and nature gives the feast ; 
The trees around them all their fruit produce — 
Lotus the name; divine, nectareous juice.'"t 

Compare with this, Hesiod's description of a people whose food was of a 
different nature : 

* Don Juan, canto ii., stanzas 155 and 156. 
t Pope's Homer's Odyssey, book tx. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 263 

" Potent in arms, and dreadful at the spear, 
They live injurious, and devoid of fear ; 
On the crude flesh of beasts they feed alone: 
Savage their nature, and their hearts of stone." * 

447. In the East Indies, the Pegu clergy teach, that charity is the most 
sublime virtue, and, therefore, ought to be extensive enough to reach, not 
only to the human species, but even to animals : wherefore they neither 
kill nor eat any ; and they are so benevolent to mankind, that they cherish 
all alike ; making no exception on accomit of religion.f 

448. A boy, about ten years of age, was placed under a vegetable diet 
by Dr. Lambe, who says : " He showed strongly in his countenance the 
ameliorating effects of a vegetable regimen. He had, before he adopted 
it, great fuhiess about the head ; and a sternness, not to say a ferocity, of 
the countenance. After a certam time, the features relaxed ; and he 
gained much more the aspect of good-humor and benevolence. It cannot 
be doubted, that these changes of countenance were the index of corre- 
sponding changes of the moral disposition. The regimen, however, had 
been persevered in three years, before they took place decidedly." (Yide 
I 251.) 

449. St. Pierre, in his " Studies of Nature," observes : " Under an 
improved system of education, children will be brought up to a vegetable 
regimen, as being the most natural to man. As vegetable diet has a neces- 
sary connection with many virtues, and excludes no one, it must be of 
importance to accustom young people to it ; seeing its influence is so con- 
siderable and so happy on beauty of person and tranquillity of soul. This 
regimen prolongs infancy, and, of consequence, the duration of human life. 
I have seen an instance of it," continues he, " in an English youth of fif- 
teen, who had not the appearance of being so much as twelve. He was a 
most interesting figure ; possessed of health the most vigorous, and of a 
disposition the most gentle : he performed the longest journeys on foot, 
and never lost temper, whatever befell him. His father, whose name was 
Pigot,J told me that he had brought him up entirely under the Pythago- 
rean regimen ; the good effects he had learned by his own experience." 

450. Mr. Shillitoe, of Tottenham, a member of the Society of Friends, 
when about forty-five years of age, had suffered from ill health during 
many years, and was restored by adopting a vegetable diet, and water for 
drink. He lived till nearly ninety years of age, and at eighty could, walk 

* Cooke's Hesiod, Works and Days, book i., 206. 

t See Captain Hamilton, in Pinkerton's Coll., p. 83. 

X Kobert Pigot, Esq., formerly of Chetwynd, in Shropshira 



264 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

with ease from Tottenham to London, (six miles,) and back again. He 
gives the following account of himself : " It is now thirty years since I ate 
fish, flesh, or fowl, or took fermented liquor of any kind whatever. I find, 
from continued experience, that abstinence is the best medicine. I do not 
meddle with fermented liquors of any kind, even as medicine. I find I am 
capable of doing better without them. One way in which I was favored to 
experience help, in my willingness to abandon all these things, arose from 
the effect my abstinence had on my natural temper. My disposition, 
naturally, is very irritable. I am persuaded that ardent spirits and high 
living have more or less effect in tending to raise into action those evil pro- 
pensities which, if given way to, ' war against the soul,' and render us dis- 
pleasing to Almighty God." 

451. " I know more than one instance," says Arbuthnot, " of irascible 
passions being much subdued by a vegetable diet." "A gentleman of 
sanguine constitution," observes Mr. Thackrah, of Leeds,''^ " who for some 
months took only vegetables, informed me that his temper became much 
less excitable. Another, of an opposite constitution, was observed, during 
the time he lived on reduced diet, to be irritable." This latter observation 
of Mr. T.'s I cannot permit to pass without a few remarks. All sudden 
changes in diet are generally attended with some little disarrangement or 
affection of the stomach and alimentary canal, even when the change is 
eventually for the better ; for, as we have previously seen, (103,) habit 
becomes, as it were, a second nature ; and the gastric juice, (81,) pancre- 
atic fluid, &c., change their character within certain limits, according to 
the kind and consistency of the usual ingesta ; so that if a person suddenly 
change from a full and highly stimulating diet to a low and meagre one, 
lassitude, flatulency, and even serious gastric disturbance, may be the con- 
sequence ; more especially, if the change be from a solid diet of animal 
food to one of herbs and greens, which is what some mean by " a low vege- 
table diet," and which is unnatural to the human stomach, except in small 
quantities and along with other food. No wonder that a person feels 
irritable from so injudicious a change as this. It could scarcely fail to be 
otherwise with any one ; and it was probably from this cause that Sir 
Walter Scott condemned "a severe vegetable diet ;" having himself been 
affected, while under its influence, " with a nervousness never felt before 
nor since." But if a person, whatever be his constitution or temperament, 
gradually change from a diet of animal food to one of fruit and farinacea — 
including wheat, barley, rice, potatoes, &c. — I have not the least doubt of 
his being, in a short time, not only better in health, but in temper also, 

"Lectures on Digestion and Diet," p, 64. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 265 

and free from that distressing state of nervous sensibility experienced by- 
Sir Walter Scott. 

452. Fuseli, the painter, was in the habit of eating raw meat, for the 
purpose of engendering in his imagination horrible fancies ; and it is related 
of Mrs. RadcMe, that when she was wi'iting " The Mysteries of Udolpho," 
she ate uncooked meat for the same object. 

453. " The fact," says Graham, " that in those tribes destitute of intel- 
lectual and moral cultivation, or in the uncivilized state, which subsist 
principally or entirely on pure vegetable food, the brain is more symmetri- 
cally developed, and the upper and front parts are much larger, in propor- 
tion to the lower and back parts, than in the uncivilized flesh-eaters, proves 
conclusively that flesh-meat increases the relative size and power of 
those cerebral parts which, according to phrenology, are the organs of the 
more exclusively selfish propensities, and tend to cause the animal to pre- 
dominate over the intellectual and moral man ; while a pure vegetable 
diet, without neglecting to secure — by the most complete and harmonious 
organization, and perfect physiological endowments — all the interests of 
organic life and animal instinct, at the same time, naturally tends to pro- 
duce that symmetry of particular and general development and harmony 
of parts which give comeliness and beauty to the person, and fit man, as an 
intellectual and moral being, to understand, and appreciate, and fulfil his 
duties to himself, and his relations to his fellow-creatures and his God. 
Hence the notorious fact that, in the perfectly rude and uncultivated state 
of man, the vegetable-eating tribes and nations never sink so low on the 
scale of humanity — never approach so near to an utter extinction of the 
intellectual and moral faculties — never become so deeply degraded and 
thoroughly truculent, as the flesh-eating tribes. However rude the state 
of the uncivilized vegetable-eater, he always (other things being equal) 
manifests more intelligence, more moral elevation, more natural grace and 
urbanity, than the flesh-eating savage. This fact has been observed by 
travellers and writers, from the days of Homer to the present time. The 
Patagonian may subsist wholly on flesh, with his other habits and circum- 
stances of life, and be tolerably gentle and peaceable ; but bring him under 
the ten thousand exciting, and irritating, and debilitating mental, and 
moral, and physical causes of civic life, and he would soon find that his 
exclusively flesh diet was a powerful source of evil to him. Fortunately 
for the cause of humanity, those tribes of the human race who subsist 
wholly or principally on flesh cannot be prolific ; and therefore their 
population never becomes dense, like that of India ; nor can they procure 

12 



266 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

the means of habitual and free indulgence in the use of intoxicating sub- 
stances* 

454. Few parents are aware of the immense amount of mischief they 
bring upon their offspring, by training them early to the use of animal 
food. In most instances, it is doubtless from a conviction that it will 
impart strength and vigor to the frame ; but its tendency is most certainly 
of a d^ctly opposite character. By giving an improper stimulus to their 
feeble constitutions, they gradually weaken the organs of digestion, and 
render their children puny and sickly ; the cause of the evil not being 
suspected, they too frequently encourage them to take more, and even add 
condiments and other stimulants to excite an appetite which nature has 
denied. In this way the seeds of disease are unsuspectingly sown, and 
sooner or later will be the cause of much pain and misery. But this is not 
the only evil to be apprehended fi'om this unnatural food. Those whose 
frames are sufficiently robust to escape immediate disease, have the animal 
propensities prematurely developed ; the passions and feelings are abnor- 
mally excited, and the tempers rendered irritable and imperious ; so that 
the moral effects are perhaps more to be dreaded than the physical. All 
who pay any attention to this important subject, must admit that fruit and 
farinacea are much more appropriate than the flesh of animals, as a diet 
for the young. Those who restrict their children to the former diet, may 
reasonably hope to secure for them the blessings of health, and a proper 
balance between the various organs of the brain ; so that the sentiments 
and propensities, instead of acting from blind and uncontrollable instinct, 
shall receive their direction from the superior faculties. 

455. Sufficient evidence has, I think, been adduced to convince an 
unprejudiced mind that, under a well-chosen vegetable diet — for it is so 
various, that all constitutions and temperaments may be suited — the mental 
and moral faculties may be much better trained, and admit of greater 
elevation, than under an animal or mixed diet, which too frequently renders 
early discipline and moral instruction inefficient. Under the former, along 
with mental, moral, and religious instruction, greater ease and freedom of 
thought will be experienced ; calmness and placidity of temper will be 
promoted ; the cares and disappointments of the world will cause less anxi- 
ety and irritation of mind ; the passions and propensities will be less likely 
to pass beyond their legitimate bounds ; acquisitiveness, and combative- 
ness, and destructiveness, will not be so liable to degenerate into selfish- 
ness, quarrelsomeness, and cruelty ; and man will be the more prepared for 

'6 universal reign of peace, benevolence, justice, and truth. 

♦ Graham's Lectures, vol. ii., p 840, &c 



NATURAL FOOD OF MAN. 267 



CHAPTER XV. 

VEGETABLE DIET FAVORABLE TO LONGEVITY. 

456. If life be a good, then must long life be a great good, provided 
that the sensitive, mental, and moral powers, which are the principal 
sources of enjoyment and happiness, still retain their integrity. Men, 
however, so frequently associate old age with protracted feebleness, insen- 
sibility, and helplessness, that longevity appears to some scarcely desirable. 
"An advanced term of life and decrepitude," says Dr. Southwood Smith, 
" are commonly conceived to be synonymous ; the extension of life is vul- 
garly supposed to be the protraction of the period of infirmity and suffer- 
ing ; that period which is characterized by a progressive diminution of the 
power of sensation and a consequent and proportionate loss of the power 
of enjoyment, the ' sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.' But 
this is so far from being true, that it is not within the compass of human 
power to protract in any sensible degree the period of old age properly so 
called ; that is, the stage of decrepitude. In this stage of existence, the 
physical changes that successively take place clog, day by day, the vital 
machinery, until it can no longer play. In a space of time fixed within 
narrow limits, the flame of life must then inevitably expire, for the pro- 
cesses that feed it fail. But though, when fully come, the term of old age 
cannot be extended, the coming of the term may be postponed. To the 
preceding stage, an indefinite number of years may be added. And this 
is a fact of the deepest interest to human nature." 

457. " The division of human life into periods or epochs is not an arbi- 
trary distinction, but it is founded on constitutional differences in the 
system, dependent on different physiological conditions. The periods of 
infancy, childhood, boyhood, adolescence, manhood, and old age, are distin- 
guished from each other by external characters, which are but the outward 
signs of internal states. In physiological condition, the infant differs from 
the child, the child from the boy, the boy from the man, and the adult 
from the old man, as much in physical strength as in mental power. There 
is an appointed order in which these several states succeed each other ; 
there is a fixed time at which one passes into another. That order cannot 
be inverted ; no considerable anticipation or postponement of that fixed 
time can be effected. In all places, and in all circumstances, at a given- 



268 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

time— though not precisely at the same time in all climates and under all 
modes of life — infancy passes into childhood, childhood into boyhood, boy- 
hood into adolescence, and adolescence into manhood. In the space of twe 
years from its birth, every infant has ceased to be an infant, and has 
become a child ; in the space of six years from this period, every male 
child will become a boy ; add eight years to this time, and every boy will 
have become a young man ; in eight years more, every young man will 
have become an adult man ; and in the subsequent ten years every adult 
man will have attained his highest state of physical perfection. But at 
what period will this state of physical perfection decline ? What is the 
maximimi time during which it can retain its full vigor ? Is that maximum 
fixed ? Is there a certain number of years in which, by an inevitable 
law, every adult man necessarily becomes an old man ? Is precisely the 
same number of years appointed for this transition to every human being ? 
Can no care add to that number? Can no imprudence take from it? 
Does the physiological condition or the constitutional age of any two 
individuals ever advance to precisely the same point in precisely the same 
number of years ? Physically and mentally, are not some persons older at 
fifty than others at seventy ? And do not instances occur in which an old 
man who reaches even his hundredth year, retains as great a degree of 
juvenility as the majority of those who attain to eighty ?" 

458. "If this be so, what follows? One of the most interesting con- 
sequences that can be presented to the hmnan mind ! The duration of the 
periods of infancy, childhood, boyhood, and adolescence, is fixed by a 
determinate number of years. Nothing can stay, uotbing can retard the 
succession of each. Alike incapable of any material protraction is the 
period of old age. It follows, that every year by which the term of human 
existence is extended is really added to the period of mature age ; the 
period when the organs of the body have attained their full growth and 
put forth their full strength ; when the physical organization has acquired 
its utmost perfection ; when the senses, the feelings, the emotions, the pas- 
sions, the affections are in the highest degree acute, intense, and varied ; 
when the intellectual faculties, completely unfolded and developed, cai-ry on 
their operations with the greatest vigor, soundness, and continuity ; in a 
word, when the individual is capable of receiving and communicating the 
largest amount of the highest kmd of enjoyment." 

459. "A consideration more full of encouragement — more animating, 
there cannot be. The extension of human life, in whatever mode and 
degree it may be possible to extend it, is the protraction of that portion 
of it, and only of that portion of it, in which the human being is capable 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 269 

of receiving and communicating the largest measure of the noblest kind of 
enjoyment." " Consideratioiis purely physiological, establish this indubit- 
ably ; but it is curious that a class of facts totally different from those of 
a physiological nature, equally prove it — namely, the result obtained from 
the observation of the actual numbers that die at diiferent ages, and the 
knowledge consequently acquired of the progressive decrement of life." * 

460. It is perfectly clear, therefore, that longevity (properly so called) is 
not a prolongation of the period of decrepitude and helplessness, as some 
imagine ; but an extension of that period of life when man can fully 
appreciate the blessings of existence ; when he is susceptible of the greatest 
amount of real enjoyment ; and when he is best qualified for advancing 
the happiness of his fellow-creatures. " Longevity then is a good, in the first 
place, because it is a sign and a consequence of the possession of a certain 
amount of enjoyment ; for longevity and happiness, if not invariably, are 
generally coincident ; and grief and misery always abbreviate existence : 
in the second place, because, this being the case, in proportion as the 
meridian period of life is extended, the sum of enjoyment must of course 
be aiigmented. And this view of longevity assigns the cause, and shows 
the reasonableness of that desire for long life which is so universal and 
constant as to be commonly considered instinctive." 

461. Every reasonable and enlightened person, therefore, who prefers 
permanent health and happiness to momentary gratification, will seriously 
and sedulously inquire, by what means these blessings are to be attained ; 
and will cheerfully adopt the habits of the thinking few, rather than 
comply with the time-honored habits of the unthinking many. Let us 
then endeavor to discover what relation diet bears to longevity : — 1. By 
ascertaining what light science casts upon the subject. 2. By observing 
how far theory is substantiated by experiment. 

462. Liebig infers, from the deficiency or absence of the alkaline phos- 
phates in the secretions of the Herbivora, that the metamorphosis of the 
tissues, in them, takes place much slower than in the Carnivora ; and many 
other facts confirm the inference. Dr. Lehmann found, by experiments on 
his own person, that an exclusively animal diet augmented the solid residue 
in the urine, while vegetable food diminished it. (336.) 

463. In the Carnivora the rapid transformation of their tissues is a con- 
dition of their existence, because it is only as the result of the change of 
matter in the body that those substances can be formed which are destined 
to enter into combination with the oxygen of the air ; and in this sense we 
may say that the non-azotized constituents of the food of the Herbivora 

* Philosophy of Health, vol. L, p. 111. 



270 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

impede the change of matter, or retard it ; or render unnecessary, at all 
events, so rapid a process as occurs in the Carnivora. (200.) Hence, also, 
a less amount of oxygen is necessary for respiration in the Herbivora, and 
less muscular exercise is required of them. " Man, when confined to ani- 
mal food," says Liebig, " respires, like the Carnivora, at the expense of the 
matters produced by the metamorphosis of organized tissues ; and, just as 
the lion, tiger, and hyena, in the cages of a menagerie, are compelled to 
accelerate the waste of organized tissues by incessant motion, in order to 
furnish the matter necessary for respiration .; so the savage, for the very 
same object, is forced to make the most laborious exertions, and go through 
a vast amount of muscular exercise. He is compelled to consume force, 
merely in order to supply matter for respiration."* In confirmation of 
Liebig's observation, we may again refer to the experiments of Dr. Fyfe, 
(256,) who ascertained that, in the same individual, while animal food is 
taken, a larger quantity of air is required for respiration, and a greater 
proportion of oxygen is consumed, than when vegetable aliment is em- 
ployed. Mr. Spalding, a diver, also found that he consumed more atmo- 
spheric oxygen in his diving-bell, when he had used a diet of animal food, 
or drunk spirituous liquors ; and experience, therefore, had taught him 
that vegetable food, and water for drink, were best adapted for the per- 
formance of the duties of his business.f Dr. Fyfe, however, differs from 
Mr. Spalding, in his account of the effect of alcohol on the respiratory 
function. It is very probable that the excess of oxygen which is found in 
the pectinaceous principle, or vegetable jelly of fruits, and in the other 
non-azotized principles of vegetables generally, is the means of thus dimi- 
nishing the function of respiration. (200.) 

464. Another fact is also worthy of observation, in connection with our 
subject. So far as chemical tests are concerned, the chyle of all animals is 
the same, whatever kind of food it may be formed from ; but with regard 
to its physiological qualities, and its relations to the vital economy, its 
character varies with the food. Dr. Marcet, Oliver, L'Heritier, and other 
physiologists, unite in stating that chyle elaborated from animal food putre- 
fies in three or four days at longest ; while chyle fi'om vegetable food, from 
its greater purity and more perfect vitality, may be kept for many days, 
without becoming putrid. 

465. It is said by Mr. Graham to be " well known, also, that human 
blood formed from animal food will putrefy, when taken from the living 

* Animal Chemistry, p. 77. 

t See Dr. John Murray's "System of Materia Medica and Pharmacy," v. I., p. 509. Fifth 
edition. Edin. 1S28. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 271 

vessels, in a much shorter time than that formed from pure vegetable ali- 
ment ; and that there is always — other things being equal — a much greater 
febrile and putrescent tendency in the living bodies of those who subsist 
mostly on animal food, than in those who subsist wholly on pure vegetable 
aliment. Hence, if two healthy, robust men of the same age — the one 
subsisting principally on flesh-meat, and the other exclusively on a diet of 
vegetable food and water — be suddenly shot down and killed, in warm 
weather, and both bodies be laid out in the ordinary manner, and left to 
the action of the elements and affinities of the inorganic kingdom, the body 
of the vegetable-eater will remain two or three times as long as the body 
of the flesh-eater will, without becoming intolerably oSensive from the pro- 
cess of putrefaction."* Majendie fully confirms this statement ; and it may 
here be noticed, that the excretions from the lungs, skin, kidneys, and 
alimentary, canal of the Herbivora are far less offensive than those of the 
Carnivora : we may consequently infer that the breath, perspiration, &c., 
of the vegetarian are not so unpleasant as those of persons who feed on 
animal food ; and the inference is supported by facts. 

466. From the whole of these facts, therefore, we may conclude that 
the more stimulating and heating the diet, the more rapidly the changes in 
the relative proportion and conditions of the solids and fluids take place, 
the more rapidly ossification, the great process of decay, is accelerated ; 
the solids becoming dry, inelastic, and unyielding. Hence a diet of animal 
food is less favorable to longevity than what we have seen to be the ori- 
ginal and natural diet of man ; namely, fruits, roots, and grain, with other 
farinaceous substances, which form chyle, blood, and tissues less subject to 
chemical decomposition, and requiring less rapid changes for the produc- 
tion of animal heat. The quicker the motion of any complicated piece of 
machinery, the sooner it is worn out ; and the observation is equally true 
when applied to the animal structure. Each process of decay and renewal 
brings it nearer to its final destination ; and the more we accelerate these 
changes by stimulating food, or any other means which increase the rapidity 
of the circulation and respiration, the sooner will the period of old age and 
decrepitude overtake us. 

467. "Though the vital energies and sensibilities,. therefore, which we 
exhaust to-day are replenished to-morrow, yet, of necessity, the process has 
taken something from the measured fund of life, and reduced our vital 
capital in proportion to the frugality or the profligacy of our expenditure. 
However proper the nature and condition of our aliment — ^however com- 
pletely all our laws of external relation are fulfilled— however perfectly the 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. ii, p. 115. 



272 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

functions of our organs are performed, and however salutary their results, 
yet every digestive process of the stomach, every contraction of the heart, 
draws something from the ultimate and unreplenished resources of organic 
vitality ; and, consequently, the more freely and prodigally we expend the 
vital properties of our organs, the more rapidly we v/ear out the constitu- 
tional powers of replenishment, and exhaust the limited stock of life. No- 
thing, therefore, can be more dangerously fallacious than the opinion, which 
is too generally cherished and too frequently promulgated, that our daily 
trespasses upon the laws of life are as the dropping of water upon a rock — 
wearing, indeed, but so slowly and imperceptibly, as scarcely to make a 
difference in the duration and in the comfort of our lives."* 

468. '* The more slowly man grows," says Professor Hufeland, " the later 
he attains to maturity, and the longer all his powers are in expanding, the 
longer will be the duration of his life ; as the existence of a creature is 
lengthened in proportion to the time required for expansion. Every thing, 
therefore, that hastens vital consumption, shortens life ; and, consequently, 
the more intensive the vital action, the shorter the life. If you would live 
long, live moderately, and avoid a stimulating, heating diet ; such as a 
great deal of flesh, eggs, chocolate, wine, and spices." Animal food, and 
all other stimulating diet, particularly in youth, do incalculable mischief; 
though by such slow degrees that, in general, the evil is neither perceived 
nor suspected. The stream of life is hurried on precipitately ; the passions 
are prematurely developed ; and — ^like a plant that has been forced too 
rapidly, by artificial heat and stimulating composts — the organism is 
exhausted ; and it becomes diseased and old, when it would, under a more 
appropriate diet, have been in its perfection. (455.) 

469. Celsus affirms that " the bodies which are filled in the manner of 
the athletae, that is, with much animal food, become the most quickly old 
and diseased." " Every physiologist must admit that flesh is of a more 
stimulating and heating nature — causes a more rapid pulse, a hotter skin — 
hastens all the vital functions of the body — causes a greater exhaustion of 
the vital powers of the organs, and wears out the human constitution con- 
siderably faster than a proper vegetable diet. Hence, great longevity is 
never found among those tribes and portions of the human family who 
subsist principally or entirely on flesh-meat. The Patagonians, with a 
climate, and almost every other circumstance except their diet, exceedingly 
favorable to longevity, rarely attain to seventy years of age ; and the ave- 
rage duration of life is greater with them than with any other flesh-eating 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. iL, p. 94 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 27« 

tribe or nation."* " Haller remarked that, from an extensive collection 
of cases, it appeared tliat persons remarkable for health and longevity had 
lived principally on coarse food, chiefly of vegetable articles, and food 
which, in the usual language, would be designated as poor, meagre, and 
imuitritious ; and it is not only matter of daily observation, but confirmed 
by all facts, that though the eaters of animal food seem healthy and vigor- 
ous, yet are they after a certain period of life liable to many diseases of an 
inflammatory character, and are very usually cut off by some disease of 
Inflammatory or haemorrhagic nature, the approach of which a more spare 
mode of living might have either delayed or averted."! 

4*70. " It has been established by nature, on the best grounds," says 
Hufeland, " that our nourishment should be used in form rather coarse ; 
securing full mastication and insalivation, and a longer retention in the 
stomach. Plain, sunple food only, promotes moderation and longevity ; 
while compounded and luxurious food shortens life. The most extraordi- 
nary instances of longevity are to be found among those classes of man- 
kind who, amidst bodily labor and the open air, lead a simple life, agree- 
able to nature ; such as farmers, gardeners, hunters, &c. The more man 
follows nature, and is obedient to her laws, the longer will he live : the 
further he deviates from these, the shorter will be his existence. Eich and 
nourishing food, and an immoderate use of flesh, do not prolong life. 
Instances of the greatest longevity are to be fomid among men who, from 
their youth, lived principally on vegetables, and who, perhaps, never tasted 
flesh." " It seems," says Lord Bacon, in his Treatise on Life and Death, 
" to be approved by experience, that a spare and almost a Pythagorean 
diet— such as is prescribed by the strictest monastic life, or practised by 
hermits — is most favorable to long life." 

471. The primeval inhabitants of the earth, who subsisted on fi'uit and 
other vegetables, are represented as having lived during so many years, 
that various ingenious methods have been invented to reduce their ages to 
more modern standards. No just reason, however, has been adduced for 
doubting the literal expressions and numbers given us in Scripture ; and 
the natural history of other animals, which have departed less from the 
dictates of instinct, seems, by analogy, to confirm the account. Animals 
generally live from five to ten times the period elapsing between birth and 
maturity ; and if the same law holds good with respect to man, when all 
the physiological laws are observed, the natural duration of human life 
may be fixed at several hundreds of years. Without indulging in conjec- 

* 6raham''s Lectures, vol. ii., p. 269. 

t Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, No. 160. 



274 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

tures, however, well-authenticated and modern history supplies us with a 
sufficient number of examples, with which to illustrate the relation existing 
between vegetable diet and longevity. 

472. Socrates, Plato, Zeno, Epicurus, Epaminondas, Archytas, Mi;o, 
and others of the ancients noted for wisdom, adhered to the Pythagorean 
or vegetable diet ; and are known to have arrived at old age, with the 
enjoyment of uninterrupted health. The ancient Chinese, who subsisted 
on rice and water, are said to have been remarkable for their longevity. 
" The Pythagoreans, who lived on a simple vegetable diet," says Hufeland, 
" afforded the most numerous instances of old age." " The Essenes, as 
we call a sect of ours," says Josephus, " live the same kind of life as do 
those whom the Greeks call Pythagoreans. They are long-lived also ; inso- 
much that many of them live above a hundred years, by means of their 
simplicity of diet, and the regular course of their lives." 

473. It is said, that in no part of the world, in proportion to its popula- 
tion, are there more instances of extreme longevity than among the Nor- 
wegian peasantry, who scarcely ever taste animal food. In the severe cli- 
mate of Russia, also, where the inhabitants live on a coarse vegetable diet, 
there are a great many instances of advanced age. The late returns of the 
Greek Church population of the Russian empire, give, in the table of the 
deaths of the male sex, more than one thousand above a hundred years of 
age ; many between one hundred and a hundred and forty ; and four 
between one hundred and forty and one hundred and fifty. It is stated, 
that to whatever age the Mexican Indians live, they never become gray- 
haired. They are represented as peaceable cultivators of the soil ; subsist- 
ing constantly on vegetable food ; often attaining a hundred years of age, 
yet still green and vigorous. Of the South American Indians, Ulloa says : 
*' I myself have known several who, at the age of a hundred, were still very 
robust and active ; which unquestionably must, in some measure, be attri- 
buted to the constant sameness and simplicity of their food." Both the 
Peruvian Indians and the Creoles are remarkably long-lived, and retain 
their faculties and vigor to a very advanced age. Slaves in the "West 
Indies have been known to live from one himdred and thirty to one hundred 
and fifty years. 

474. Homer attributes great virtues and longevity to a milk-diet, which, 
though superior to a diet of flesh-meat, is decidedly inferior to the more 
natural food of man, in countries where it can be procured. He says : 



"And where the far-famed Hippemolgian strays, 
Eenowned for justice and for length of days ; 



BEST F O I) OF MAN. 276 

Thrice happy race ! that, iunocent of blood, 
From milk, innoxious, seek their simple food : 
Jove sees delighted ; and avoids the scene 
Of guilty Troy, of arms, and dying men." * 

4*75. Sir William Temple f informs its, that the Brachmaus among- the 
Indians, and the Brazilians, at the time that country was discovered by the 
Europeans, lived to very advanced ages : some of these were said to have 
lived two hundred, some three hundred years ; the former living principally 
on rice, and the latter on fruits, herbs, and plants, and knowing no drink 
but water. '* Some of the tribes of the Arabs of the desert," according 
to Captain Riley, " subsist entirely on the milk of their camels. Those 
who adhere strictly to this diet have no sickness nor disorders, and attain 
to a very great age, with remarkable vigor and activity." " I am fully of 
opinion," says he, " that a great many Arabs on this vast desert actually 
live to the age of two hundred years and upwards. Their lives are regular 
from birth to death ; their food is simple, plain, and nutritious, and with- 
out variation ; their climate is dry and not changeable ; they are not sub- 
ject to hard labor, yet have sufficient exercise for the purposes of health ; 
they never taste wine or ardent spirits ; it being forbidden by their reli- 
gion." There are so many well-authenticated instances of individuals 
preserving their health, strength, and mental faculties to extreme old age, 
by a strict abstinence from animal food and fermented liquors, that it would 
be tedious to recount them. I shall, however, introduce a few, by way 
of further illustration. 

476. Henry Jenkins lived one hundred and sixty-nine years ; and 
although it is not stated that he never ate animal food, yet if we may 
judse from the language of his historian, it can have formed but a very 
small portion of his diet : he informs us that it was coarse and sour ; that 
is, plain and cooling. Old Parr, who died at the age of one hundred and 
fifty-two years and nine months, lived on old cheese, milk, coarse bread, 
small beer, and whey : these, with pure air and exercise, were the true 
" pills" that imparted to him health and stamina for so long a period of 
time. 

477. Ephraim Pratt, of Shutesbury, who died in 1804, at the age of 
one hundred and sixteen years, took no animal food for forty yeg.rs : he 
lived very much on milk, and that in small quantity ; and yet he could 
mow " a good swath" almost to the hour of his death. His son attained 
to the age of one hundred and three, by similar means. 

* Pope's Translation of the Iliad, book xiii., 1. 9. 
t "Works, vol. ii., p. 397. 



276 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

478. On the 20th of April, 1805, John Maxwell was still living at 
Kingston, near Forfar, nearly one hundred and four years of age. When 
seventy years of age, he married a third wife, who lived sixteen years with 
him, and bore him seven children. At the age of ninety-five, he married 
his fourth wife, aged thirty-two. He v/as an athletic man, and very fond 
of walking. He has travelled on foot sixty miles in nine hours ; and, 
until he was seventy, was never beaten at walking. At the above date, 
he could walk from his own house to Forfar, a distance of about a mile 
and a half. He lived always very temperately, and on a plain diet, chiefly 
farinaceous, and tasted no spirits. His food for some years was pottage 
and milk ; tea and bread in the evening, and a little wine and water, which 
he said he found useful to his breathing. 

479. Francois Cailton, when upwards of a hundred years of age, often 
walked a league a day, and sometimes more. He still retained his hair and 
teeth ; his sight and memory were good, and he slept tranquilly. His 
nourishment was almost always rye-bread and water.* " In the year 1757 
J. Effingham died in Cornwall, in the one hundred and forty-fourth year 
of his age. He was born of poor parents, in the reign of James the 
First; and had been brought up to labor from his infancy. He had 
served long as a common soldier and a corporal ; he had been present at 
the battle of Hockstadt. He at length returned to the place of his nati- 
vity, and worked as a day-laborer till his death. It is to be remarked 
that in his youth he never drank strong heating liquors ; that he always 
lived remarkably temperately, and seldom ate flesh. Till his hundredth 
year, he scarcely knew what sickness was ; and eight days before his end, 
he had walked three miles, "f 

480. "When Johannes de Temporibus, who is said to have lived three 
hundred years, was asked how he prolonged his life, he replied, '' By oil 
without, and honey within." It is told of John Bailes, who lived to the 
age of one hundred and twenty-eight, that his food, for the most part, con- 
sisted of brown bread and cheese, and his drink water and milk. Paul 
the hermit, who reached the great age of one hundred and fifteen years, 
of which he spent nearly one hundred in the desert, lived for the first 
forty years on dates and water only, and the rest of the time on bread and 
water. St. Anthony, who reached the age of one hundred and five years, 
lived for eighty years in the wilderness on bread and water, with the addi- 
tion of a little salad. St. Hilarian consumed daily only fifteen figs, or six 
ounces of barley-bread and fi'esh roots ; and retained his health, with cor 

* M. Mazure, Secretary to the Society of Arts at Niort, France. 
Hodgkin on Health. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 277 

poreal and mental vigor, to a very advanced age. Dr. Hecquet, of Paris, 
who lived to a very advanced age, toiiched neither flesh nor wine for thirty 
years. 

481. J. J. Rousseau strenuously advocates the cause of a vegetable 
diet ; and gives the following account, as extracted from an English paper : 
"An individual, called Patrick O'Neil, born in 1647, was married in 1*760, 
for the seventh time. He served in the dragoons in the seventeenth year 
of the reign of Charles the Second, and in different regiments till 1740, 
when he received his discharge. He served in all the campaigns of King 
William and the Duke of Marlborough. This man had never drunk any 
thing except ordinary beer ; he always lived on vegetables, and never ate 
flesh, but at the feasts he gave his family. His custom has always been, to 
rise and retire with the sun ; at least when duty has not prevented him. 
He is at present in his one hundred and thirteenth year, hearing well, car- 
rymg himself erect, and walking without a stick. Notwithstanding his 
great age, he is not a moment idle ; and every Sunday attends his parish 
church, with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren." ^ 

482. On the 25th of December, 1772, died at Brussels, aged one hun- 
dred and one, Elizabeth de Yal, who never ate a bit of flesh, or tasted any 
kind of broth or soup, during the whole course of her life.f A few years 
ago, died at Coombe, (in Northumberland,) Joseph Ekins, aged one hun- 
dred and three ; who never knew a week's illness, and subsisted entirely 
on bread, milk, and vegetables, for the last thirty years. J A shepherd died, 
not long ago, at Gompus, in Hungary, in the one hundred and twenty- 
sixth year of his age. His manner of living was very simple : he never 
ate animal food, but subsisted entirely on milk, butter, and cheese, and had 
never been ill in his life, g 

483. A writer in the " Gentleman's Magazine," for August, 1787, under 
the signature of " Etonensis," gives us an account of one John Williamson, 
alias Pythagoras of Moffat, whom he describes as one of the most original 
geniuses that ever existed. " He was well skilled in Natural Philosophy, 
and might be said to have been a moral philosopher, not in theory only, 
but in strict and uniform practice. He was remarkably humane and cha- 
ritable ; and, though poor, was a bold and avowed enemy to every species 
of oppression. He accounted the murder, as he called it, of the meanest 
animal, except in self-defence, a very criminal breach of the law of nature, 
insisting that the Creator of all things had constituted man, not the tyrant, 
but the lawful and limited sovereign of the inferior animals, which, he con^ 

* " Emile," vol. i., p. 70. * Scot's Magazine, vol. xxxix. p. 696« 

+ From a Newspaper, i Morning Post, Jan. 27, 1800. 



218 BEST FOOD OF MAX. 

tended, answered the ends of their creation better than their despotic little 
lord. During the last forty or fifty years of his life, he totally abstained 
from animal food, and was much offended when any was oflfered to him. 
He insisted that, at best, it served but to cloud the understanding, 
to blunt the feelings, and to inflame every bad passion ; and that those 
nations who eat little or no flesh — as the poor among the Scotch and 
Irish — were not inferior in size, strength, or courage to other men. His 
vegetable and milk diet afforded him, in particular, very sufliclent nourish- 
ment, for when I last saw him he was still a tall, robust, and rather cor- 
pulent man, though upwards of fourscore. He died in 1*768, or 1769, 
upwards of ninety years of age." 

484. It will doubtless be objected, that there are many examples of 
people living to extreme age, in full possession of their faculties, who have 
not restricted themselves to vegetable diet, and who have even indulged 
freely in animal food. This is undoubtedly true ; but we know not how 
much longer they might have continued to enjoy the pleasures of life, had 
their diet been regulated by correct principles, or had they followed the 
dictates of pure instinct. Examples are not wanting of men of extremely 
intemperate habits living to a great age ; yet who, except the wilfully 
blind, would contend from this that intoxication is favorable to long life ? 
The constitutions of some men are naturally so strong, that they suffer 
much less from irregularities and indiscretions of any kind than might be 
expected ; but this cannot justify men of weaker stamina in adopting their 
habits; nor do we judge correctly if we suppose that the former escape 
injury, merely because we are unable to detect it. It is safer, therefore, to 
draw our inferences from a careful investigation of physiological laws, 
rather than to depend upon a numerical statement of instances of extreme 
old age ; for the life of every man is modified by a multiplicity of circum- 
stances, the separate and combined influence of which it is impossible for us 
to calculate. There is not the least reason to doubt, from points already 
ascertained, that the more intimate our knowledge of the human frame and 
its relations, the stronger will be the conviction that fruits and farinacea are 
the natural food of man. Every new discovery in physiology and organic 
chemistry tends to confirm the opinion, that these are also his best food ; 
and all experience shows that the happiest results, both to body and mind, 
may be confidently expected by the adoption of an exclusively fruit and 
farinaceous diet. 

485. We have seen that upon this diet health and strength are mam- 
tained ; recovery from disease is more certain ; protection from epidemics 
more effectual ; the physical powers more active ; the senses of sight, 



BEST P^OOD OF AlAN. 279 

smell, and taste more acute ; the skin more perspirable ; the body more 
symmetrical in its development ; sensual enjoyment more exquisite ; the 
intellectual faculties clearer ; mental exertion less irksome ; the passions 
and propensities more subdued ; the dispositions more benevolent ; the 
morals (so far as food is concerned) more pure, and life more extended. An 
animal or mixed diet, on the contrary, exposes man to many very painful 
and dangerous diseases -. entails upon him much misery ; and, no doubt, 
considerably abbreviates his existence. Can any one, then, who is capable 
of serious reflection and candid inquiry ; who has sufficient self-command 
to exercise a few weeks' self-denial ; sufficient moral courage to withstand 
the jeers of those who suffer themselves to be carried along the stream of 
popular opinion ; who has an enlightened regard for his own happiness, 
and a proper feeling for the sufferings of dumb animals — can any one, (I 
say,) exercising these qualities, hesitate which diet he shall choose ? From 
the one he has much to hope and expect ; from the other he has much to 
fear. 

486. "And yet the wholesome herb neglected dies, 
Though with the pure exhilarating soul 
Of nutriment and health, and vital powers, 
Beyond the search of art, 'tis copious blest 
For, with hot ra\nn fired, ensanguined Man 
Is now become the lion of the plain. 
And worse. The wolf, who from the nightly fold 
Fierce drags the bleating prey, ne'er drunk her milk, 
Nor wore her warming fleece : nor has the steer, 
At whose strong chest the deadly tiger hangs, 
E'er ploughed for him. They, too, are tempered high, 
"With hunger stung, and wild necessity ; 
Nor lodges pity in their shaggy breast. 
But Man, whom Nature formed of milder clay, 
With every kind emotion in his heart, 
And taught alone to weep ; while from her lap 
She pours ten thousand delicacies — herbs, 
And fruits as numerous as the drops of rain 
Or beams that gave them birth ; shall he— fair form 
Who wears sweet smiles, and looks erect on Heaven — 
E'er stoop to mingle with the prowling herd. 
And dip his tongue in gore ? The beast of prey, 
Blood-stained, deserves to bleed ; but you, ye flocks, 
What have you done ? ye peaceful people, what, 
To merit death ? you who have given us milk 
In luscious streams, and lent us your own coat, 
Against the winter's cold ? And the plain ox, 
That harmless, honest, guiltless animal. 
In what has he ofiieuded? He, whose toil- 
Patient, and ever ready — clothes the land 
With all the pomp of harvest; shall he bleed, 



280 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

And struggling groan beneath the cruel hands 
E'en of the clown he feeds? And that, perhaps, 
To swell the riot of the autumnal feast, 
Won by his labor? Thus the feeling heart 
Would tenderly suggest ; but 'tis enough, 
In this late age, adventurous to have touched 
Light on the numbers of the Samian sage." * 



CHAPTER XYI. 



DIET CONSIDERED IN ITS RELATION TO POPULATION AND THE MORAL 
PROGRESS OF MAN. 

487. To attempt the prediction of events which, in all probability, can 
only occur some hundreds or thousands of years hence, will perhaps be 
considered a mark of great presumption. In doing so, however, I lay no 
claim either to special inspiration, or to superiority of intellect ; but draw 
my inferences respecting the future from well-ascertained facts of the pre- 
sent time, and foretell circumstances that may hereafter be from those 
which already exist. The inorganic laws of nature have, during some 
centuries, been attentively studied, by men of first-rate abilities ; and the 
knowledge thus obtained has been successfully applied in explaining, con- 
trolling, and foretelling various phenomena of consequence to the welfare 
and happiness of mankind. 

488. Pythagoras. Kepler, Newton, La Place, and many others, have 
devoted their splendid talents to the consideration of the laws that regulate 
the motions of planetary and cometary bodies ; and the consequence is, 
that the precise situation of a number of those orbs in the regions of space 
can be ascertained for ages yet to come. But our knowledge of the laws 
that govern organic life, more especially of those upon which intellectual, 
moral, and social perfection depends, is extremely limited ; and even much 
of that which is both known and acknowledged is rendered nugatory and 
inert, in consequence of the superior force of custom, prejudice, moral 
cowardice, and gross selfishness. It is in the order of nature, that the inor- 
ganic laws should be first studied ; because, without a correct knowledge 
of these, to a certain extent, we should be ill preparetl for investigating the 

* Thomson's Spring, L, 885 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 281 

Btill more intricate phenomena of life : but having made so rapid a progress 
in the arts and sciences connected with inanimate nature, it is a matter of 
wonder and regret that the laws of vitality, and the mental, moral, and 
social sciences, are as yet little attended to, and very imperfectly understood. 
It is time that civilized man should rouse himself from his lethargy, and 
apply himself with energy to the extirpation of disease, poverty, crime, 
and misery, by ascertaining, and then endeavoring, as far as may be, to 
remove their causes ; and to the promotion of health and happiness to every 
member of the human family — in a word, to the production of the greatest 
good to the greatest number of his race. 

489. The organic laws, though more complicated, are no less certain 
than the inorganic ; nor are they farther removed from the control of 
human agency, when correctly understood ; and I trust we are upon the 
eve of a glorious period, when the physical, mental, moral, and social laws 
of human life shall be more clearly ascertained, and effectually directed to 
the production of all the blessings above mentioned. It is from a very 
limited consideration of one or two of these laws, tffat I venture to speak 
of the future food of mankind — not, of course, with that confidence and 
certainty which attach to the consideration of the natural and best food 
of man ; for though we may be well acquainted with the laws of nature 
exercising their influence at present, we cannot calculate upon those which, 
in the course of time, may successively come into operation, varying and 
controlling the results which we may at present anticipate. There are, 
however, several cogent reasons for believing that fruit, roots, grain, and 
other vegetables, will be the general, if not the universal food of mankind ; 
notwithstanding the apparent improbability of such an event, judging 
from the present habits of society, particularly in this island. The evidence 
upon which this result is expected may be considered under four distinct 
heads : — 1. Physical. 2. Mental. 3. Moral. 4. Social. 

490. The physical evidence appears from the difficulty of procuring 
supplies for a rapidly increasing population, on a diet of flesh, or of a 
mixed character. While the population of a country is small, the flesh of 
animals is obtained with much greater ease than fruit and grain, which, in 
temperate climates, require knowledge and industry for their production. 
So redundant is animal life in some countries, that the inhabitants destroy 
immense numbers for the sake of their fur, skins, or feathers, leaving their 
carcasses to putrefy as useless. As population and civilization advance, the 
flesh of animals gradually becomes more valuable. Great attention to 
breeding, feeding, and protecting animals then is necessary for the purpose 
of supplying their flesh in sufficient quantity to meet the demands of 



282 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

luxury ; large tracts of valuable land must be appropriated to their sup- 
port ; till, at last, instead of being the cheapest of all food, from its 
abundance compared with population, it becomes the most expensive. As 
a nation advances in wealth, also, it generally advances in extravagance ; 
and the appetite is indulged without any restraint, except such as the 
necessary consequences of excess impose on it. Hence, as the use of 
animal food becomes more general among the rich, its consumption is also 
increased among the classes beneath them ; it is finally deemed a necessary 
of life ; and no meal is considered complete, unless a portion of some 
animal has formed a part of it. 

491. The opinion i& pretty generally entertained that the amount of 
nutriment in animal food is much greater than is contained in any vegeta- 
ble production : but this is undoubtedly a mistake. Flesh, from its stimu- 
lating qualities, imparts a feeling of strength, and is, on that account, 
thought to be more nutritious than any other kind of food. (254.) " It, 
however, not only exhausts the stomach more in the process of gastric 
digestion, but works the whole organic machinery of life with more rapid- 
ity and intensity, and therefore causes a proportionably greater waste of 
the substance of the organs in a given time, and, consequently, increases 
the demand of the system for fresh supplies of aliment." 

592. Chemical analysis has shown that while beef, mutton, and other 
kinds of flesh contain only 25 per cent, of nutritious matter, wheat contains 
85, barley 84, rice 92, oats 82, peas 84, and potatoes (those weak and 
watery vegetables, as they are generally considered) contain from 20 to 28 
per cent, of soluble nutriment.* It will probably be objected by some, 
that the character of the nutriment in these articles is very different. This 
is undoubtedly true ; for while that contained in flesh consists principally 
of albumen, a highly azotized substance, that of the potato is almost 
entirely starch, with a very small amount of protein. (192 and 197.) 
Hence, though potatoes (without being combined with milk, or some other 
azotized substance) are inadequate to the full development of human 
muscle, except they are eaten in very large quantities ; yet flesh alone is 
equally unfit for the purpose, except in amount equal to that required on a 
potato-diet. But it is probable (200) that, by means of the nitrogen of 
the atmosphere, starch is converted, during the digestive process, into pro- 
tein ; consequently, though potatoes, rice, and other farinaceous substances 
be deficient of this important element, they are, nevertheless, highly nutri- 
tious articles of diet. 

493. The Poor-Law Commissioners found that many of the Irish pea- 
* See Appendix, C. " 



BEST FOOD OP MAN. 283 

santry consume nine pounds of potatoes in their two daily meals. Four 
pounds of potatoes may be estimated as nearly equivalent to one pound of 
flour, or to rather more than one and a quarter pound of bread ; therefore, 
nine pounds of potatoes are equal to three pounds of bread ; but as two 
pounds of bread daily are found to be sufficient for the support of a man 
taking moderate exercise, it would appear that nine pounds of potatoes to 
each individual daily is too high an estimate. The amount of potatoes 
necessary for the support of a family consisting of a man, his wife, and 
four children, is calculated (by Sir John Sinclair) to be about fourteen 
thousand pounds for a year, or nearly seven pounds to each individual 
daily. 

494. In the year 1840, some experiments were made on the effects of 
different diets on the prisoners confined in the Glasgow Bridewell, and the 
following extract from the Eeport of the Inspectors of Prisons deserves 
notice, as illustrating the preceding remarks on the nutritive powers of 
potatoes : 

"Eighth Diet. — Cost, including cooking, l^d. 
Breakfast. — 2 lbs. of potatoes, (boiled.) 
Dinner. — 3 lbs. of potatoes, (boiled.) 
Supper. — 1 lb. of potatoes, (boiled.) 

495. "A class of ten young men and boys was put on this diet. All had 
been in confinement for short periods only, and ail were employed at light 
work — ^teazing hair. At the beginning of the experiment, eight were in 
good health, and two in indifferent health ; at the end, the eight continued 
in good health, and the two who had been in indifferent health had improved 
There was, on an average, a gain in weight of nearly three pounds and a 
half per prisoner ; the greatest gain being eight pounds and a quarter by 
a young man whose health had been indifferent at the beginning of the 
experiment. Only two prisoners lost at all in weight, and the quantity in 
each case was trifling. The prisoners all expressed themselves quite satis- 
fied with this diet, and regretted the change back again to the ordinary 
diet." Another experiment was as follows : 

"First Diet — Cost, including cooking, 2Jd. 
Breakfast. — 8 oz. of oatmeal, made into porridge, with a pint of buttermilk. 
Dinner. — 3 lbs. of boiled potatoes, with salt 
Supper. ~5 oz. of oatmeal, made into porridge, with half a pint of buttermilk. 

496. " Ten prisoners were put on this diet, five men and five boys, all 
under sentences of confinement for two months, and all employed at light 
'^vork — picking hair and cotton. At the beginning -of the experiment, 
eight were in good health, and two in indifferent health ; and they had, on 



284 ' BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

an average, gained more than four pounds each in weight ; only one 
prisoner, a man, having lost weight. The greatest gain was nine pounds, 
four ounces, and was made by one of the men ; the prisoner who was 
reduced in weight had lost five pounds, two ounces." 

497. That a considerable degree of physical power may be maintained 
on potatoes only, we learn from John M. Andrew, of Eemsen, N. Y., who, 
after having adopted a vegetable diet for sixteen months, thus writes : " I 
do not go beyond the truth, when I say that I cannot find a man to vie 
with me in the field with the scythe, the fork, or the axe. I do not want 
any thing but potatoes and salt, and I can cut and put up four cords of 
wood in a day, with no very great exertion. I have frequently been told 
by friends that my potato-and-salt system would not stand the test of the 
field ; but I have silenced their clamor, by actual demonstration with all 
the implements above named. At present, no consideration would induce 
me to return to my former mode of living." 

498. Barley is considered an extremely nutritious article of diet. A 
member of the medical profession, at Munich, had to supply with provisions 
a number of persons under his care ; and he found, from considerable expe- 
rience, that soup made with pearl-barley, split-peas, and potatoes, boiled 
about three hours, and poured upon some bread cut small, yielded one of 
the most satisfying, wholesome, and nutritious diets he could produce. He 
ascertained that nineteen ounces of this soup afforded sufficient nourishment 
for a full-grown person. There was no animal food or fat in it ; he only 
added a little salt and a little ginger. He found that no other substance 
was a substitute for the barley. He tried flour, rice, and other things ; 
but the soup was never found to be so nutritious and strengthening.* 
Count Rumfordf also regarded barley-meal, when used for soup, as three 
or four times as nutritious as wheaten flour. 

499. It was shown (175, &c.) that human aliment should contain both 
an azotized and a non-azotized principle ; the former for the purpose of 
nutrition, and the latter principally for the support of respiration and the 
production of animal heat. If, therefore, flesh, which contains only the 
former principle, be exclusively employed as human food, an immense 
amount of muscular exercise is requisite, and the body must undergo the 
process of waste and renewal much more rapidly than under a vegetable or 
mixed diet, in order to supply the carbon and hydrogen for the support of 
respiration ; and this rapid metamorphosis of tissue renders necessary an 
mcreased supply of food. (195, 463.) " Man, when confined to animal 
diet, requires for his support and nourishment extensive sources of food — 

* London Ecyclopsedia, article " Food. t Essay on Feeding the Poor, 



BESTFOODOFMAN. 285 

even more widely extended than the lion and tiger ; because, when he has 
the opportunity, he kills without eating. A nation of hunters, on a limited 
space, is utterly incapable of increasing its numbers beyond a certain 
point, which is soon attained. The carbon necessary for respiration must 
be obtained from the animals, of which only a small number can live on 
the space supposed. These animals collect from plants the constituents of 
their organs and of their blood, and yield them, in turn, to the savages 
who live by the chase alone. They, again, receive this food unaccompa- 
nied by those compounds, destitute of nitrogen, which, during the life of 
the animals, served to support the respiratory process. In such men, con- 
fined to an animal diet, it is the carbon of the flesh and of the blood which 
must take the place of starch and sugar."* 

500. It has been ascertained, by chemical analysis, that fifteen pounds 
of flesh contain no more than four pounds of starch. Liebig, therefore, 
concludes that if a man whose usual diet consists of animal food and starch, 
in equal quantities, should discontinue the starch, and subsist on flesh alone, 
he would require five times as much of the latter as he previously con- 
sumed ; so that one pound of starch appears to supply the place of four 
pounds of flesh. Whoever, therefore, would lessen the amount of farinacea 
in his diet, and substitute animal food in its place, must add four pounds 
of the latter for every pound by which the former is diminished. Wheaten 
flour, from which neither bran nor sharps have been removed, seems to 
contain precisely that proportion of azotized and non-azotized matter 
which is best adapted to man in temperate climates, (204, &c. ;) and actual 
experiment has fully proved that two pounds of good wheaten bread will 
sustain a man accustomed to such diet longer and better than eight pounds 
of the best flesh-meat. Well-authenticated facts, also, further confirm the 
deductions of science. 

501. " The Eussian and Greek laborers, and those of many other coun- 
tries, will work from twelve to sixteen hours a day, with great power, 
activity, and cheerfulness, and subsist on about one pound of coarse bread, 
with a small bunch of garlics, figs, raisins, apples, or some other fruit, 
containing little nourishment ; while, according to Eoss Cox — who spent 
several years beyond the Eocky Mountains, as an agent of the American 
North-western Fur Company — the Canadian boatmen, and others in the 
Company's service, receive, according to stipulation, and regularly con- 
sume, when they have no other food, eight pounds of flesh per day for each 
man, and ten pounds, if it contain any bone ; and these men, if their rations 

♦ Liebig's Animal Chemistry, p. 76. 



286 B E S T F O D F M A ^ . 

of food are cut short for two or three days, are exhausted and unstrung."* 
Captain Ross — who had had so many years, experience in the Arctic 
regions — remarks, that the half-savage Canadian, with six pounds of solid 
meat in the day, or eight pounds of fish, which form his regulated allov/- 
ance, is not worth more, in point of exertion, than the Englishman, after a 
little practice in that labor, who is amply fed with one pound of the former, 
and a proportional quantity of the latter .f The Captain appears to have 
overlooked the decided advantage which the Englishman derives from a 
mixture of farinaceous food with his fish or flesh. He observes of the 
Esquimaux : " Their breakfast, consisting of five or six pounds of seal 
each, seemed a highly satisfactory one to them. We had judged as incau- 
tiously in measuring their appetites as their tastes by our own ; but a spe- 
cial larder was admitted to be necessary, if we were to give dinner-parties. "J 
He also informs us, that while one salmon and a half, in a cooked state, 
were sufficient for five of his company, each Esquimaux devoured two, in a 
raw state. " Each man had eaten fourteen pounds of this raw salmon : 
and it was probably but a lunch, after all, or a superfluous meal, for the 
sake of our society."^ He further remarks, " that the Arab, on one small 
allowance of barley-meal in the day, is more enduring of fatigue than an 
Esquimaux, who perhaps eats twenty pounds of flesh and oil ; while he is 
also stronger and more active."|| 

502. " The Patagonians," says the Rev. M. Armes, who spent three 
months among them as a missionary, " subsist almost entirely on the gua- 
naco, which they take in the chase. They will often, in their indolence, 
sufi'er their provisions to run very low, and for two or three days subsist 
on very little ; and then, when urged by hunger, they will mount their 
horses and go out in pursuit of fresh supplies. And when they return with 
their game, it is a very common thing for a single Patagonian to consume 
from fifteen to twenty pounds of flesh in the course of a day. Indeed, I 
have frequently seen a single man, after two or three days' severe abste- 
miousness, consume at one meal, in the course of three hours, the half of a 
guanaco, which would weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds. This flesh 
was generally eaten very slightly cooked." The accounts which have been 
given of the voraciousness of the Esquimaux, and other flesh-eating tribes 
of the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and America, and the enormous 
quantities which they consume in a day, and at a single meal, are almost 
incredible ; yet they have been repeatedly corroborated by good authority 

* Graham's Lectures, vol. ii, p. 113. 

t Boss's Narrative of a Second Voyage, &c., p. 285. 

J Ibid., p. 187. § Ibid., p. 284 1 Ibid., p. 485. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



287 



On the other hand, millions of the inhabitants of India and China subsist 
on a few ounces of rice a day for each individual ; and where they are in 
other respects temperate and correct in their habits, they are well nourished, 
athletic, and active. The American Indian will travel far and subsist long 
on a small bag of maize, parched and pounded ; taking only six or eight 
ounces of it per day, mixed with water. 

503. It will perhaps be objected, that the Carnivora generally consume 
less food than the Herbivora. But it should be recollected that, as the 
skin of the former is destitute of perspiratory pores, they lose, for equal 
bulks, much less heat than the latter, which are compelled to restore the 
lost heat by means of food adapted for respiration ; and as the skin of man 
abounds with perspiratory pores, he is necessitated, when feeding on flesh 
solely, to eat in greater abundance. Science and fact, therefore, unite iu 
proving, that if any portion of land yield only the same weight of grain 
that it does of animal food, the former will support four times as large a 
population as the latter. It is well known, however, that if two equal 
portions of land be employed, the one in grazing, the other in producing 
fruit, grain, potatoes, &c., the weight of the latter will considerably exceed 
that of the flesh obtained by feeding cattle. In Lance's ''Cottage 
Farmer," it is shown that the quantity of land required to keep an ox will 
produce an abundant supply of vegetable food for at least four persons. 

504. The estimated produce of an acre of land is, of 



Mutton* 


. . 228 lbs. 


per year; 


or 10 oz. per 


BePf* . 


182^^ 


" 


8 


Wheat t 


. 1,680 


" 


4,Ub8.« 


Barley . 


. 1,800 


" 


5 


Oats 


. . 2,300 


" 


6 


Peas 


. . 1,650 


" 


41 " 


Beans . 


. 1,800 


" 


5 


Indian Com . 


. 8,120 


" 


8| " 


Kicel: . . 


, 4,565 


" 


12^ " 


Potatoes § . 


. 20,160 


" 


55 


Parsnips 


. 26,880 


i( 


74 


Carrots 


. 33,600 


" 


92 


Yams . . 


. 40,000 


" 


110 


Turnips 


. 56,000 


u 


154 


Beeta . 


. 75,000 


" 


205 " 



* As stated by Middleton. 

t Good land will produce five quarters, or 2,520 lbs. per acre, and, under spade husbandry, 
as many as fourteen quarters per acre have been obtained. By improved and careful culttire 
otlier crops may be increased in similar proportions. 

X Breton's China, vol. ix., p. 29. 

tj It is said that Mr. EawBon and others have obtained 84,122 lbs. per acre, or 93 lbs. par day. 



288 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

The produce of many fruit trees considerably exceeds tliat of the potato ; 
this has been proved by many observers. Rousseau and M. D. St. Pierre 
ascertained it of the chestnut tree ; Forster and others of the bread-fruit 
tree; Humboldt of the banana. The latter gentleman calculated, that 
1,000 square feet of banana plants will produce 4,000 lbs. of its nutritive 
fruit ; while the same space would give only 38 lbs. of wheat, and 462 lbs. 
of potatoes. It might easily be proved also, that keeping cows for their 
milk yields a greater profit than fattening cattle for the butcher : and 
milk, used for human food, or formed into butter and cheese, is much more 
economical than converting it into veal. 

505. From these facts we draw two important inferences : 1. A fruit 
and farinaceous diet admits of greater economy than either an animal diet 
or a mixed one. 2. Any definite portion of land will support a larger 
population on this diet than upon any other. The first inference applies to 
man in his private and domestic relations, and appeals to his self-interest ; 
the latter is connected with his social and national relations, and appeals to 
his sympathy and benevolence. A persoji disposed to indulge in the 
choicest fruits, and other scarce productions, may render a vegetable diet 
as expensive as he pleases : but, upon this diet also, health, strength, and 
enjoyment may be procured at a very trifling cost, and this is admitted 
even by the most strenuous advocates of an azotized diet. At the late 
agricultural meeting at Drayton Manor, Dr. Lyon Playfair said : "At 
London prices, a man can lay a pound of flesh on his body with milk at 
three shillings and ninepence ; with potatoes, carrots, and butcher s meat, 
free from bone and fat, at two shillings ; with oatmeal at one shilling and 
tenpence ; with bread, flour, and barley-meal at one shilling and twopence ; 
and with beans and peas at less than sixpence. These considerations are 
far from trivial, because, when we consider that an equal amount of nutri- 
tious matter can be obtained from one food at less than one-fourth the cost 
of another, this is only saying that in times of distress, with an intelligent 
application of money, we can feed four people where formerly we only 
could feed one." This statement is made on the supposition that all arti- 
cles of diet are nutritious in proportion to the amount of protein they con- 
tain ; but many facts are opposed to this opinion : and if we estimate each 
production by the solid nutriment it comprises, the comparison will be 
much more in favor of bread, oatmeal, rice, potatoes, &c., than is here 
represented. (See Table B and remarks.) When a man is thoroughly 
convinced how readily, and at how small an expense, the real wants of 
nature can be satisfied without any abridgment of his pleasures, (419, &c.,) 
he feels a degree of independence which no worldly wealth can supply, and 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 289 



which confers on its posi^essor important advantages. It encourages him 
to exercise a stronger faith in the divine promise — ** Bread shall be given 
him ; his waters shall be sure." " Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt 
thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." He feels that he can 
afford to defend what he believes to be truth, though surrounded by error 
and strenuous opposition. He is less likely to be influenced by the slavish 
fear of man, and boldly speaks his convictions, alike unmoved by the smile 
of pity or the laugh of ridicule. In fine, he learns self-reliance, and 
becomes rich by becoming poor in his desires ; and is satisfied with plea- 
sures which a very small amount of labor can purchase. He refuses no 
delicacy which a bounteous Providence presents to him, but experiences 
no want so long as he has a crast of bread and water from the brook. 

506. The second inference, however, involves far weightier consequences 
than the first. If we admit — what there seems little reason for doubting — 
that an average of six pounds of aqimal food a day would be necessary for 
each individual, on an exclusivehj Jlesh-diet, then, since an acre of land 
employed in feeding cattle only produces eight or ten ounces of flesh per 
day, it would require ten or twelve acres to support each person for a year ; 
whereas one acre of wheat would supply three persons, and (according to 
Curweu) one acre of potatoes would serve at least nine persons with suffi- 
cient food for the same space of time ; so that a diet of potatoes and fruit 
would support one hundred times the number of inhabitants that could be 
maintained on an exclusively fesh-diet. Not to reduce man, however, to the 
necessity of living on the cheapest or most productive kind of food — which 
is by no means desirable for any nation, not even for the lowest classes of 
society — ^let us suppose man enjoying the greatest variety of the choicest 
and most delicious fruits, roots, and grains; the discoveries of science 
leading to improved culture, and triumphing over deficiency of temperature 
and unsuitableness of climate ; and let us further suppose that, by thus 
admiriistering to the gratifications of taste and the pleasures of the table, 
four-fifths of the whole produce is sacrificed ; still the land would be com- 
petent to maintain twenty times the population it could support on an 
exclusive diet of animal food. 

507. According to the last censils, there are in the United Kiugdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland, twenty-seven millions of inhabitants, and about 
sixty-three millions of acres of land, capable of being cultivated ; conse- 
quently there are two and one-third acres for each man, woman, and child. 
It appears from the Table,* that the land would support a population of 
only five millions two hundred and fifty thousand on a full and exclusive 

[* Seo Appendix D.] 
13 



290 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



animal diet; one hundred and eiglity-nine millions on wheat; and five 
hundred and sixty-seven millions on potatoes ; without taking into account 
the additional produce obtainable by improved culture. Suppose one- 
third of the land capable of cultivation were appropriated to the produc- 
tion of fruits, flowers, and timber, and to the support of cows, sheep, and 
other animals, for the supply of milk, wool, &c. ; one-third to the cultiva- 
tion of wheat, oats, peas, &c. ; and the remaining third to potatoes and 
other roots or tubers yielding human food ; then, according to the present 
average produce of land. 

Inhabitants . 
21,000,000 of acres of wheat, &c., at 3 qrs. per acre, will feed ... - 63,000,000 
21,000,000 of acres of potatoes, &c., one acre supporting nine persons, - - - 189,000,000 

252,000,000 

This number is more than nine times the present population, exclusive of 
the twenty-one millions of acres reserved for supplying milk, butter, cheese, 
and fruit. It has been proved by repeated trials, that much larger crops of 
grain, peas, potatoes, &c., can be obtained by spade husbandry than by the 
present methods ; and though the former is much more expensive, yet it 
would benefit the country by an increased supply of food, and by the 
employment of more laborers, and repay the farmer for his extra outlay. 
Man has increased and multiplied, but he has not yet replenished the earth 
and subdued it. He has not adopted wise measures for collecting and 
returning to the earth the most valuable liquid and solid manures ; nor has 
the land yet been cultivated with that regard to economy which our 
increasing population demands ; nor can this be the case till laborers are 
more freely employed upon it, and probably not so long as extensive tracts 
of land are iu the charge of one individual. The land in England should 
be cultivated much more like a garden than is the case at present, by 
which means our redundant population would be fully and profitably em- 
ployed, and we should then need neither emigration nor foreign supplies. 

508. In this country the cultivation of fruits has not yet received the 
attention it deserves, whether we regard the varieties which might be 
obtained, the perfection to which they might be brought, or the quantity 
of land which should be employed ia producing them. Many clay soils, 
which are not remunerative under a corn-crop, would be useful to the 
country and profitable to the occupants if planted with the various hardy 
kinds of fruit trees. Many useless trees now stand in hedge-rows which 
might be replaced by varieties of the apple and pear ; and it has frequently 
occurred to me that many advantages would result from planting the sides 
of railroads with piums, cherries, apples, pears, &c. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 291 

1. As any given portion of land is capable of producing more human 
food in the form of fruit than under any other mode of culture, there 
weuld be as much nutriment restored to the country as was lost by the 
witlidraAval of the land from cultivation by the construction of the railway, 

2. As lines of railway pass through every variety of soil and subsoil, 
portions of land might be found suitable for every kind of hardy fruit 
tree, which is scarcely ever the case with any tract of land occupied by 
one individual. 

3. As the lines pass through various sheltered as well as exposed situa- 
tions, a general failure of fruit-crops on these lines would seldom occur. 

4. The common kinds of fruit would become so much more abundant as 
to render them much cheaper than at present : and as sugar may be ex- 
pected to be reasonable in price, they would afford many wholesome pre- 
parations for the laboring classes ; the consumption of sugar would also be 
increased. 

5. These lines of trees would be both ornamental and agreeable, whether 
in blossom or in fruit ; and the trees miglit be of such a size and at such 
distances as to be in no respects detrimental or inconvenient. 

6. The fruit being on the great lines of traffic, would be easily collected 
in good condition, and forwarded with ease to the markets for consumption. 

7. The trees would require little attention, and would be less exposed to 
depredations than in many other situations. 

8. The planting could be effected at comparatively small expense to the 
companies, and the crops might be farmed by men employed on the lines. 

9. Intermediate situations might be occupied by gooseberries, currants, 
raspberries, strawberries, and other fruits which would be in great demand 
at the various stations. 

509. In the vegetable kingdom, man has resources almost without end ; 
and when science shall have shed its meridian light upon the production 
and preparation of food, every tree, shrub, and herb, will assist in supply- 
ing nutriment for the human race. When man shall be able to ascertain 
the properties which any article of nutriment must possess to be in direct 
relation with his alimentary organs, his blood, and tissues, he will, in all 
probability, discover an easy and efficient mode of combining the various 
properties of vegetables, so as to produce in infinite abundance the food 
best adapted to the perfect development of his organic structure. If fruit, 
or bread, as formed by the ordinary means, should be scarce, there is little 
doubt but the skill and ingenuity of man will aid him in artifically com- 
bining the juices and fibre of plants, so as abundantly to supply that of 
which the vicissitudes of climate, or other unforeseen contingencies, may 



292 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

have deprived him. The very flowers which regale us with their sweet 
perfumes may, perhaps, hereafter be made to contribute also to the gratifi- 
cation of the palate. Many of the fruils of tropical climates are said to 
be the most delicious imaginable, but will not bear transporting to great 
distances, and, if they would, they do not contain sufficient carbon and 
solid matter to support the human frame in cold climates. But is it not 
possible so to combine the fragrance of flowers with the farina of grain 
and roots, as to produce an artificial fruit, uniting the aroma and piquant 
flavor of tropical productions with the nutritious properties of those of 
colder climes ? The flowers of the temperate zones are generally more 
finely scented than those of the tropics ; is it merely for the purpose of 
gratifying the sense of smell, or of reminding man also of some ulterior 
purpose to which they may be applied ? In the admirable adaptation of 
external nature to the organization of man, we seldom find provision made 
for sensual gratification as an ultimate ; the pleasure we experience is 
usually the means adopted for securing our attention to what is designed 
for the well-being and permanency of the organism. It is, therefore, 
reasonable to conclude that the fragrance of flowers either administers 
directly to our health through the sense of smell, or is intended to lead us 
to the employment of it in our food. Perhaps the Japanese resort to somo 
Buch means to flavor their rice. See ^ 269. 

510. Wood can be converted into starch, and starch mto sugar or 
vinegar. "When lignin is comminuted and reduced by artificial pro- 
cesses," observes Dr. Prout, " it is said to form a substance analogous to 
the amylaceous principle, and to be highly nutritious." Professor Autca 
rieth (of Tubingen) states, that when wood is deprived of every thing 
soluble, reduced to powder, repeatedly subjected to the heat of an oven, 
and then ground in the manner of corn, and boiled with water, it yields a 
flour, which forms a jelly, like that of wheat-starch, and, when fermented 
with leaven, makes a perfectly uniform and spongy bread. The " ]\Ioniteur,'' 
in May, 1830, mentioning that wheat-straw, chopped and ground, yields a 
flour of a coarse description, but agreeable and nutritious, added, that its 
bread was superior to the common bread used by the lower orders on the 
Continent. Chance led a miller, in the Cote d'Or, to discover the means of 
converting straw into a farina of pretty good quality. A short time ago 
the Due d'Angouleme, passing through Dyon, tasted some small loaves 
made of it, and took some to show the King. It was M. Maitre, founder 
of the agricultural establishment of Yiloffe, near Chatillon, who first dis- 
covered it. He has since found, that not only the straw of corn and other 
grains may be made into flour, but that hay and the stalks of trefoil, 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 29S 

lucerne, and sainfoin, are also convertible. Flour from these last, he gives 
to his sheep and lambs.* The public papers of March, 1830, stated that 
Mr. Gouldson had discovered a mode of separating- and preparing the 
farinaceous parts of such bulbous roots as carrots, turnips, parsnips, beets, 
&c., and of converting it into a fine flour. After two years' experiment, 
he has now obtained a patent. He declares, that he really produces good 
and nutritious bread, equal, both in quality and color, to the finest white 
wheaten bread. The quantity of farina to be obtained from the roots 
grown upon any given quantity of ground, compared with that produced 
from the ears of wheat on the same space, is increased, he says, at least 
twenty times. 

511. I may here briefly notice another reason for supposing that man 
will, in future ages, have recourse to a vegetable diet ; though it refers to 
a period so distant, that it will be deemed worthy of little attention. It 
is a well-ascertained fact, that while plants decompose the carbonic acid 
contained in the air, and liberate the oxygen, all animals (except the 
microscopic animalcules) consume the oxygen, and restore the carbonic 
acid to the atmosphere. Combustion also diminishes the oxygen, and 
increases the amount of carbonic acid. Now, in proportion as animals 
multiply and vegetation decreases, the constitution of the atmosphere 
must be altered, and rendered less fit for the respiration of man. But it 
has been shown (200, 256, 463) that, on vegetable food, man requires less 
oxygen than on animal diet ; therefore, by increasing the growth of vege- 
tables for his food, and contracting the number of other animals, he pre- 
serves the purity of the atmosphere for an increasing human population, 
and for the continued existence of his species. 

512. Some, perhaps, may be inclined to doubt the truth of calculations 
which show resources for a number so immensely beyond the present popu- 
lation of Great Britain. They are, however, based on undeniable facts, 
which were fully admitted by Mr. Arthur Tonng and Mr. Newenham, in 
their researches respecting the comparative amount of food yielded by 
wheat and potatoes ; and, if not minutely correct, (which cannot be ex- 
pected with such variable data,) they will at least be found a pretty near 
approximation to the truth. Some, again, will say — " Why look forward 
to a provision for such an amazing increase of mankind in these islands, 
which can only take place at an immeasurably distant period ?" It has 
been proved, that in many countries where the means of subsistence are 
not limited, population has a tendency to increase in a geometrical ratio, 
doubling its numbers, in some instances, every twenty or fiv&-and-twenty 

* Bull. Univer., June, 1880, p. 157. 



294 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

years ; and if there were no checks to the fulfilment of this law of in- 
crease, the present twenty-seven millions of inhabitants in the United 
Kingdom would, in the space of from one hundred to one hundred and 
twenty-five years, amount to eight hundred and sixty-four millions — nearly 
equal to the present population of the earth ; and a number which the 
most productive kind of food would not support in these islands, unless 
assisted by foreign produce. But it is evident, that this law of increase 
among mankind must, in all countries and in all ages, have met with many 
checks, such as scarcity of food, wars, pestilence, &c. ; otherwise the world 
would have long since received its maximum of human inhabitants. 

513. Our population returns supply us with many valuable facts ; and 
from these we learn that the population of this country has, for the last 
forty years, been increasing after the rate of fifteen per cent, in ten years, 
or doubling its numbers in fifty years ; and if neither wars, disease, nor 
other checks interfere with this well-ascertained law for the next two hun- 
dred and fifty years, eight hundred and sixty-four millions will undoubt- 
edly be the popidation of Great Britain and Ireland. Two centuries and 
a half, therefore, are a period not so distant as to be unworthy of the seri- 
ous attention of every British subject. It is evident, also, that within a 
very brief space of time no considerable portion of the inhabitants of 
Great Britain can indulge in a diet of animal food, without immense foreign 
supplies ; and the law that operates here will, in the course of a few more 
centuries, densely populate other countries, and finally render a fruit and 
farinaceous diet equally necessary throughout the earth. 

514. I shall, perhaps, be told that, " ages before a nation has arrived at 
the limit of its subsistence, its decay is prepared by a great variety of 
causes which, by destroying national virtue, pave the way for national 
decline. A survey of the fate of all the great empires of antiquity, and a 
consideration of the close resemblance which the vices and passions by 
which they were distinguished at the period of the commencement of their 
decline bear to those by which we are agitated, lead to the melancholy con- 
clusion that we are fast approaching, if we have not already attained, the 
ntraost limit of our greatness, and that a long decay is destined to precede 
the fall of the British empire. During that period our population will 
remain stationary or recede ; our courage will perhaps abate ; our wealth 
will certainly diminish ; our ascendancy will disappear ; and at length the 
Queen of the Waves will sink into an eternal, though not forgotten, slum- 
ber. It is more likely, than that these islands will ever contain human 
beings for whom sufficient sustenance cannot be obtained ; that its fields will 
return, in the revolutions of society, to their pristine desolation, and the 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 296 

forest resume its wonted domain, and savage animals regain their long-lost 
habitations ; and that a few fishermen will spread their nets on the ruins 
of Plymouth, and the beaver construct his little dwelling under the arches 
of Waterloo Bridge ; the towers of York rise, in dark magnificence, 
amidst an aged forest ; and the red-deer sport, in savage independence, 
round the Athenian pillars of the Scottish metropolis."* 

515. This is indeed a dreary picture for the contemplation of the phi- 
lanthropist ; but is there no escape from the destiny which Mr. Alison has 
marked out for Britain ? Are there no circumstances which distinguish 
her inhabitants from those of the states whose overthrow and desolation 
have been alluded to ? Are there no means of averting the fate that has 
overtaken the empires of Persia, Greece, and Rome, whose former magni- 
ficence and splendor have been the admiration Of later nations ? I feel 
emboldened to declare my hope and belief that a far happier destiny 
awaits our island ; but it would be too great a tax on the reader's patience 
to dwell upon it, and the means to be pursued for attaining it. I shall, 
therefore, merely throw out a few hints upon this important subject, for 
the serious consideration of those who may feel interested in it. The 
downfall of previous states may be attributed to two principal causes : 

516. First. The accumulation of wealth in the hands of a privileged 
class ; while the great body of the people were either slaves, or reduced to 
extreme poverty. The former became ener\'ated by luxury ; while the 
latter became vicious, degraded, and wretched, longing for opportunities 
to share the plunder of their oppressors. 

517. Second. The mass of the people were sufiered to remain in igno- 
rance, totally devoid of all mental and moral culture. The selfishness, 
corruption, and effeminacy which the acquisition of wealth invariably pro- 
duces, undermine the foundations of public prosperity, and prepare the 
downfall of a system which counteracts the ends of social union. Nur- 
tured in ease and affluence, educated in pride and seclnsiveuess, the rich too 
often seek their own pleasure, regardless of the real welfare and just govern- 
ment of the community ; while the lower classes, weighed down by poverty 
ignorance, and vice, are both incapable and unwilling to make an efibrt to 
save the tottering state, which finally falls a prey to some more hardy 
nation. But in this country there has arisen a middle class of society, 
through whose intervention we may hope for the establishment of just laws 
and equal rights. The invention of printing, by which knowledge and 
information can be rendered permanent, plentiful, and cheap : the necessity 
that is now beginning to be acknowledged for a national education on 

"^ * Alison's Principles of Population, vol. ii., p, 571. 



296 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

correct principles ; and, above all, the recognized superiority of the Chris- 
tian doctrines of charity, forgiveness, forbearance, benevolence, equality, 
and unity of interests, are gradually preparing the way and laying the 
foundation for the establishment of the best principles of government, and 
the most perfect form of social compact. I neither anticipate nor desire 
that the rich should condescend to mingle with the vulgar and the dregs 
of human society ; nor that the wise and virtuous should find pleasure in 
associating with the ignorant and vicious ; but that the mass of the people 
should be so elevated by instruction and moral training, that their lan- 
guage, manners, and habits might no longer separate them from their 
fellow-men. In this state, the rich man will not consume the produce of an 
acre at a meal, while his unfortunate brother is left to starve ; but, the 
appetites and passions of all being brought under due restraint, there will 
be a gradual approximation to that kind of diet which, at the same time 
that it affords the most abundant supply, is also best calculated for pro- 
moting health, strength, enjoyment, and longevity ; as well as for subju- 
gating the passions, maintaining evenness of temper and freedom of thought. 
Let it be remembered that population, when unchecked by wars, pestilence, 
and other causes, increases with amazing rapidity, and presses on the sup- 
ply of nutriment ; that many sorts of fruit and farinaceous food can main- 
tain from fifty to a hundred times the population which can be supported 
on a diet of flesh ; that vegetable food is conducive to the interests of man, 
whether physical, mental, or moral ; that under it he will be better able to 
comply with the checks that may hereafter be found necessary for limiting 
population ; and few, I think, will then doubt that a vegetable diet must 
hereafter become universal. 

518. I have in some measure anticipated the remarks I purposed to 
make respecting the mental, moral, and social evidence in favor of a uni- 
versal diet of vegetable food ; but I shall make a few more observations, 
under these respective heads, on the changes to be expected. From the 
present immense and increasing spread of information among all classes of 
society, the most beneficial results must ere long be the consequence ; and, 
if the efforts that are now being made for a national education of the lower 
orders be successful, it is impossible to calculate the blessings that may 
result from them, in the course of two or three generations. He who 
would correctly estimate the prospects of the future, should carefully note 
the numerous advantages society at present enjoys, in consequence of the 
progress of science and general knowledge within even the last fifty years. 
" Knowledge is power ;" and this power may be applied to good or evil, 
according to the constitution and moral training of its possessor ; but 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 297 

when moral rectitude and Christian principles are combined with somid 
judgment and extensive knowledge in a considerable proportion of the 
people, then may we confidently expect the wisest regulations for securing 
the permanent peace, health, and happiness of the whole. 

519. In proportion as intellectual vigor obtains ascendancy over the 
lower propensities, the constant inquiries will be : " What is truth ?" — 
"What is the greatest good?" — not, " What is most fashionable or most 
customary, nor yet what is most conducive to present gratification ?" When 
men have been taught to think, they will learn to act in accordance with the 
dictates of nature and truth ; they will dare to practise what their reason 
approves, and have the courage to refuse what they know to be pernicious. 
The conventional and in many cases absurd usages of society will no 
longer be binding : mankind will be sufficiently enlightened to excuse sin- 
gularities, where neither principle nor good feeling is compromised ; and 
that man will be most highly estimated whose appetites and passions are 
so regulated that their highest gratification is in strict accordance with 
knowledge and prudence. 

520. None but those who possess a salutary control over their appetites 
can be expected to pay much attention to arguments in favor of a natural 
diet ; nor, if convinced, can they put in execution the resolves which a 
knowledge of the truth may have induced them to make. Few, then, at 
present are sufficiently convinced, or sufficiently resolute, to adopt a fruit 
and farinaceous diet ; for the customs of society, and the temptations that 
are daily offered to an appetite corrupted by long habit, prevent the requi- 
site exercise of a temporary self-denial, and resolution gives way before 
habits of a different kind have been firmly established. Thus are the dic- 
tates of truth and reason unheeded, and a slavish submission to the author- 
ity of custom and fashion becomes the rule of life, from which men have 
neither the will nor the power to emancipate themselves. But, as society 
progresses in knowledge, these difficulties will be diminished; and the 
change from bad habits to good will become more easy, in consequence of 
the majority being disposed to adopt those which promise the most perma- 
nent enjoyment and felicity. The physiological laws will be studied, and 
applied to the renovation of mankind, and to the production of the " mens 
Sana in corpore sano." 

521. The concurrence of the many in the same pursuit will encourage 
the timid and irresolute, and fewer temptations wiU then withstand the 
efforts of virtuous resolve. If, therefore, it can be proved that a fruit and 
farinaceous diet is the best for man, (of which, I think, we already possess 
abundant evidence,) this truth, like every other, will finally prevail ; the 

13* 



298 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



transition from a mixed to a pure vegetable diet will become easy and 
pleasant, and its adoption vrill at last be universal. I finally infer the uni- 
versality of a fruit and farinaceous diet, from the important social and moral 
changes which both the Bible and v.'ise men assure us will hereafter take 
place ; when men will no longer absurdly oppose and thwart each other in 
their efforts to obtain the necessaries and luxuries of life, which would be 
sufficiently abundant for all, if mutual interest and Christian charity were 
the ruling principles of action. Already have both individuals and nations 
discovered the advantages to be derived from acting unanimously ; and the 
various classes of society are uniting their resources, and combining their 
influence, for mutual protection and the general benefit of the members ; 
they are economizing force by .unity of purpose, instead of neutralizing 
power by individual competition and opposing efforts. 

522- How far this harmony of action and consolidation of interest, when 
accompanied by the general education and moral training of the people, 
may contribute towards the introduction of that happy state of mankind 
described as the Millennium, is not for me to determine. But if such a 
state should ever arrive, when each shall find his own happiness enhanced 
by promoting that of others ; when men shall vie with each other in doing 
good, and brotherly love shall actuate every breast, even if the population 
of the world "svere no denser than it is at present in this country, it would 
be impossible for all to be supplied with a mixed diet of vegetable and 
animal food ; and the very constitution of society being incompatible with 
a privileged class — feeding on an expensive kind of diet, while others sub- 
mit to cheaper fare — it is reasonable to conclude that all will then resort 
to a fruit and farinaceous diet, which is also best adapted to all the wants 
of the human economy. 

523. The sensitive and moral feelings of man v/ill also, in such a state 
of society, have their unrestrained and proper exercise ; their admonitions 
will be carefully noted and obeyed ; the sufferings of dumb animals will no 
longer be disregarded ; and their plaintive cries will no longer reach the 
ear, without at the same time moving the heart of man. " To take the 
life of any sensitive being," observes Dr. Dick, " and to feed on its flesh, 
appears incompatible with a state of innocence : and therefore no such 
grant was given to Adam in Paradise, nor to the antediluvians. It appears 
to have been a grant suited only to the degraded state of man after the 
deluge ; and it is probable that, as he advances in the scale of moral per- 
fection in the future ages of the world, the use of animal food will be gra- 
dually laid aside ; and he will return again to the productions of the vege- 
table kingdom, as the original food of man — as that which is best suited 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 299 

to the rank of rational and moral intelligence." It lias been shown, that 
the direct tendency of animal food is to irritate the temper, to inflame the 
passions, to strengthen the lower propensities, to blunt the moral feelings, 
and to render the heart callous ; and as immunity from disease, bodily 
strength and activity, synunetry and beauty of form, perfection and acute- 
ness of the senses, unalloyed pleasure and enjoyment, mental exertion, and 
intellectual culture, as well as longevity, are favored by a diet of fruit, 
roots, and other farinaceous substances, we may conclude that these v\-ill 
constitute the diet of those who live during the second reign of peace and 
innocence on earth. 

524. Then may it be said of man : 

" No longer now 
He slays the lamb that looks him in the face, 
And horribly devours his mangled flesh ; 
Which, still avenging nature's broken law, 
Kindled all putrid humors in his frame, — 
All evil passions, and all vain belief, 
Hatred, despair, and loathing in his mind, — 
The germs of misery, death, disease, and crime. 
No longer now the winged inhabitants. 
That in the woods their sweet lives sing away, 
Flee from the form of man ; but gather round, 
And prune their sunny feathers on the hands 
Which little children stretch, in friendly sport, 
Towards these dreadless partners of their play. 
All things are void of terror : man has lost 
His terrible prerogative, and stands 
An equal amidst equals : happiness 
And science dawn, though late, upon the earth. 
Peace cheers the mind, health renovates the frame: 
Disease and pleasure cease to mingle here ; 
Eeason and passion cease to combat tliere ; 
While each, unfettered, o'er the earth extends 
Its all-subduing energies, and wields 
The sceptre of a vast dominion there ; 
While every shape and mode of matter lends 
Its force to the omnipotence of mind. 
Which from its dark mine drags the gem of truth. 
To decorate its Paradise of Peace." * 

* Shelley. 



300 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 



CHAPTER XYII. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

525. I DO not expect that those of my readers who enjoy what they 
consider good health, will be induced to test for themselves the truth of 
the views advocated in this work. They will perhaps say, " It is all very 
well for those to adopt a fruit and farinaceous diet who find a necessity for ' 
so doing ; but, as we possess excellent health, and enjoy our food, we are 
satisfied that a mixed diet agrees with us best ; and, therefore, shall make 
no change, but ' let well alone.' " They may think that constitutions are 
different, and that the food which agrees with some may not suit others. To 
such I would only observe, that the digestive and chylopoietic organs of all 
men are formed after one type ; and that constitutions differ merely by 
slight congenital peculiarities, modified by long habit ; and these diSerences 
would prove no serious obstacle to the gradual adoption of a more natural 
diet. If fruit and farinacea be the natural and best food of man, there 
cannot be a doubt that all would find this diet more conducive to perfect 
health, real pleasure, and long life, than any other. But let no one attempt 
the change who is not convinced that it is his interest or his duty to do so, 
or who is not determined to bear patiently the inconveniences that will be 
at first experienced. To commence requires great self-denial ; and to reap 
all the pleasures and advantages that result, demands great perseverance. 
Unless, therefore, the mind be firmly resolved, the desire for more tasty and 
stimulating food will be continually recurring ; and, so long as this is the 
case, no relish will be acquired for more simple fare. I should be sorry to 
induce any one to make such alterations in his mode of living as would 
diminish his pleasures, or interfere with the real enjoyment of life ; and 
must leave each to adopt that course which he thinks will secure to him 
the most permanent felicity. " Let every man be fully persuaded in his 
own mind : prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." Many, 
hov/ever, who are suffering from disease, will be disposed to make trial of a 
diet which promises so many advantages ; and it is to such that the follow- 
ing cautions and advice are more particularly addressed. 

526. The generality of persons who have not lived on a full animal diet, 
may at once make the change without experiencing much inconvenience : 
but others will find it safer to adopt a fruit and farinaceous diet by 
degrees ; and to permit a few weeks to elapse before they live on it exclu- 
sively It has been already stated, that the gastric juice, and other secre- 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 801 

tions, vary with the character of the ingesta ; (81 :) slight indisposition, 
therefore, may attend any sudden change of diet. It has also been shown, 
that when a stimulating diet has been exchanged for a simple and nutri- 
tious one, the circulation and respiration will probably become slower ; the 
physical force may appear diminished ; the frame may appear languid, and 
the spii'its less buoyant. No one, however, need be alarmed at these effects : 
they are but temporary, and will soon be succeeded by more agreeable 
sensations. Prejudices against an exclusively vegetable diet are so strong, 
that those who commence it are apt to attribute to its use every disagree- 
able feeling, and every deviation from health which they experience ; 
regardless of many other circumstances which may have been the real 
cause. It must not be expected that the trial of a few weeks, or even of 
a few months, will be sufficient to eradicate any serious disease : some pro- 
gress may be made in that time ; but Nature is slow in all her operations, 
and it is necessary that the whole of the blood and a considerable portion 
of the tissues shoiild be renewed, before a complete state of health can be 
expected. In simpler and less dangerous disorders, a state of convalescence 
is very often produced remarkably soon. Medicine may, in many cases, 
succeed in effecting a cure much more rapidly ; but without a proper atten- 
tion to diet, there is continual danger of a recurrence, or of laying the 
foundation of some other disease. Those who have been in the habit of 
taking much animal food, should commence the change with farinaceous 
articles, or preparations from them, (such as rice, sago, barley, wheaten 
flour, oat-meal, potatoes, &c.,) rather than with fruits, either ripe or pre- 
served ; but these will be found very beneficial if gradually introduced. 
Care should be taken that the bread employed is not made from flour of 
too fine a quality ; as it very frequently produces constipation. Undressed 
meal is decidedly the most wholesome. (223.) 

527. No operations are more necessary to be performed by the vegeta- 
ble-eater than due mastication and insalivation : for unless these important 
processes be attended to, indigestion is almost sure to be the consequence. 
Chymiiication conmienccs in the stomach on the surface of each individual 
fragment of food ; consequently, the smaller the particles into which it is 
commmuted by the teeth, the sooner it will be digested. (211.) The saliva 
has a considerable influence on farinaceous food; and the glands which 
secrete it are large in all herbivorous and frugivorous anunals. (31 .) This 
fluid is alkaline ; and it is worthy of remark, that when any of the alkalies 
are taken for the purpose of neutralizing morbid acidity of the stomach, 
the nature of the saliva is entirely changed, and it assumes quite an oppo- 
site property. Many, therefore, produce serious mischief by neglecting to 



302 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

employ an antidote supplied by nature, while they officiously substitute 
artificial preparations. Acidity, heartburn, &c., would frequently be easily 
removed, if the patient would voluntarily excite an increased flow of saliva, 
continue to swallow it for a few minutes, and occasionally repeat the act ; 
but this would seldom be necessary if proper food were used, and carefully 
masticated. 

528. Each meal should be completely digested before another is taken ; 
and a period of repose should always succeed a period of activity. When 
the sensation of hunger is experienced in less time than six hours after 
each meal, it may be generally considered as a morbid craving, dependent 
on imperfect chylification ; in consequence of the too frequent ingestion of 
food, interrupting the ventricular and csecal digestion. The faintness 
usually experienced by the dyspeptic, is only increased by frequent eating, 
and is most readily removed by fasting. 

529. Moderate exercise in the open air, for the purpose of assisting the 
various secretions, is another essential requisite for the production and 
maintenance of good health. None can long neglect this rule with impu- 
nity ; but a sedentary life is certainly not so detrimental to those who liv-e 
on vegetable food, as to those who live on an animal or mixed diet ; for 
reasons already stated. (195, 196, 202.) Unless sufficient oxygen be sup- 
plied to the lungs by daily exercise in the open air, the products of decom- 
position fail to be removed in sufficient quantity for the maintenance of a 
healthy state, and the assimilation of new matter is impeded. Without 
exercise, also, " the contractile power of the heart and large arteries is 
feebly exerted ; and, though sufficient to carry the blood to the ultimate 
tissue, it is nevertheless not strong enough to carry it through with the 
rapidity necessary for health. The ultimate tissue being thus filled faster 
than it is emptied, congestion takes place in those delicate and important 
vessels which compose it, as well as in the large veins, the office of which 
is to convey the blood from this tissue to the heart. One of the chief con- 
ditions of the body, in that general ill state of health usually denominated 
* indigestion,' is congestion of blood in the ultimate tissue of our organs ; 
the brain, the lungs, the spinal marrow, the stomach, the ganglionic system, 
the liver, bowels, and all the organs concerned in the nutrition of the 
body." When the system, therefore, undebilitated by disease, will admit a 
good supply of oxygen by muscular exercise, it is the best means of dimin- 
ishing the amount of venous blood, and, in conjunction with a legitimate 
supply of proper food, of increasing the amount of arterial blood ; and in 
proportion as the latter preponderates over the former, shall we possess 
health and muscular strength, as well as elasticity of mind. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 308 

530. " Oxygen," says Dr. E. Jolinson, " is tlie only stimulating drink 
which we can take, with advantage to ourselves, for the purpose of invigor- 
ating our strength, and elevating our animal spirits. It is the wine and 
spirit of life — the true eau de vie ; with an abundance of which nature has 
supplied us ready made ; and it is the only one proper to man. If you he 
thirsty, drink water ; if low-spirited, drink oxygen ; that is to say, take 
active exercise, during which you inhale it." Violent exercise, except 
occasionally, and when the person is healthy and strong, should be avoided ; 
for, though consistent with health, it renders the processes of decay and 
renewal too rapid, and hastens the period of old age. 

531. The skin, being a very important excretory organ, should on no 
consideration b-^ neglected. About thirty ounces of the worn-out materi- 
als of the body are said to escape, by insensible perspiration, in twenty-four 
hours ; but the quantity varies with the temperature of the atmosphere, 
the amount of exercise, and other circumstances. The innumerable pores 
by which effete matters aboimding in carbon and nitrogen are excreted, 
can perform their function with much greater freedom in the Herbivora 
than in man ; because the artificial clothing which the latter is under the 
necessity of using, in cold climates, prevents free exhalation ; and the skin 
becomes sheathed in an oleaginous compound, which materially checks the 
necessary process. The consequence is, that the lungs, kidney, and liver 
have additional duty to discharge ; which frequently terminates in func- 
tional or organic disease. Hence arises the necessity for frequent ablution, 
in order to preserve the normal condition of the perspiratory pores. The 
warm bath, or sponging the whole surface of the body with tepid water, will 
effectually remove all extraneous matter from the skin ; but, as warmth is 
debilitating, and cold, when judiciously administered, is a powerful tonic, it is 
desirable that cold water should be substituted, whenever the constitution 
will permit it. Many who have been extremely liable to coughs, sore 
throats, &c., have, by this means, been completely protected against a recur- 
rence of these distressing and dangerous complaints. Xearly all who are 
not affected with organic disease may bear the cold bath, or cold sponging, 
in all seasons, with considerable advantage to health ; but its daily use will 
prove injurious, if the body be exposed too long to the influence of cold, 
land unless a reaction and moisture of the surface be promoted, by subse- 
quent muscular exercise, or by friction of the skin with the hand, the hair- 
glove, or the flesh-brush. 

532. Several other rules for the preservation of health may be here 
mentioned ; such as regular hours ; early rising ; good ventilation of the 
Bitting and sleeping-rooms ; avoidance of currents of air, and some others, 



304 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

the importance of which is so generally acknowledged, that they require 
no recommendation. I shall, therefore, proceed to a brief enumeration of 
the most valuable articles of human diet, for the choice of those who are 
determined to dispense with the flesh of slaughtered animals. 

533. The most valuable production, in this country, for the support of 
human life, is undoubtedly wheat. Tritkum vulgare is supposed to be a 
native of the hilly parts of Asia, and has been rendered hardy by time and 
cultivation in more temperate climates. The flour of wheat may be used 
in a great variety of ways, forming bread, puddings, pies, &c., and is most 
wholesome when the bran has not been removed by dressing. Wheat, 
when boiled and afterwards used with milk, forms a nutritious and whole- 
some diet. From wheat also are prepared semolina, soujee, mannacroup, 
and various kinds of farinaceous food, as that by Mr. Hard, sometimes 
mixed with barley-meal, as in Densham's Farinaceous Food. 

534. Hordeum vulgare, or barley, is another excellent grain, well known 
to the ancients. It is indigenous in Sicily and Russia, and may be cul- 
tivated in much colder countries than wheat. Pearl-barley is made from 
hordeum distichon, or " two-rowed barley ;" it is excellent in soups, and 
forms very good puddings, when used either alone or mixed with rice. 

535. Avena sativa, or the common oat, was found in a wild state by 
Anson, in the island of Juan Fernandez. This grain is frequently used as 
" grits" or " groats," but it is more commonly gi-ound into a coarse powder 
called " oat-meal," which is made into cakes and puddings, or boiled with 
milk or water, or a mixture of both. It forms a very nutritious diet for 
children, as well as for persons of mature age. 

536. Oryza sativa, or rice, is indigenous in India, where it has been cul- 
tivated from very remote ages. The Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, 
and all the eastern nations, make great use of this grain. " It is the grand 
material of food, on which a himdred millions of the inhabitants of the 
earth subsist ; and although chiefly confined by nature to the regions 
included between and bordering on the tropics, its cultivation is probably 
more extensive than that of wheat, which the Europeans are wont to con- 
sider as the universal staff of life."* Merat and De Lens state, that three- 
fourths of the inhabitants of the earth are nourished by this grain, which 
contains about the same amount of nutriment as wheat, but only a small 
portion of gluten. Some consider this grain inadequate to the full develop- 
ment of the muscular fibre. But if, as we have every reason to believe, 
the nitrogen of the atmosphere plays so important a part in the digestive 
processes, (185, 200,) the objection against rice, potatoes, and other article? 

* Marsden'a History of Sumaira, p. 65. 1811. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 805 

of diet which contain little nitrogen, falls to the ground ; and as we have 
well-authenticated accounts of strong and muscular men being nourished 
solely by such diet, (269, 192, 276, 281, 497,) they afford additional evi- 
dence that there are other sources of nitrogen besides food. Rice is easily 
digested ; and is an excellent article of food for the young and the old, 
the sick and the healthy. When formed into puddings, the addition of 
one-third of pearl-barley is consider a great improvement. 

537. Zea mats, or maize, is another grain of great importance, and of 
high antiquity. Its culture is said to be more extended than that of 
wheat ; and in Asia, Africa, America, and some parts of Europe, it is one 
of the principal aliments of the human race ; but, as little of it is imported 
or produced in England, the remarks already made will be sufficient. 
Several other valuable grains, tubers, and fruits, are not noticed for the 
same reason. 

538. Of tubers, the following are the most valuable : Solanum tuberosum, 
or potato. Cassava, from which tapioca is prepared. Salep, which is 
considered very nutritious, and is procured principally from Orchis mascula. 
Indian arrow-root, from Maranta arundinacea. Yams, extensively cul- 
tivated in Africa, Asia, and America. Arrachucha, cultivated in South 
America for its root, which is farinaceous and easy of digestion. Bunium 
Jlexuosum, or earth-nut, abundant in dry meadows in England, and no 
doubt a valuable root if properly cultivated. Sago, prepared from the 
pith of Sagus farinifera, and other palms. The following succulent roots 
are also valuable : Turnips, carrots, parsnips, beets, and Jerusalem arti- 
chokes. We have also various species of the Brassica, as the cabbage, 
cauliflower, broccoli, <S:c. ; likewise peas, beans, kidney-beans, spinach, as- 
paragus, seakale, onions, lettuce, celery, endive, artichokes, radishes, rhu- 
barb, mushrooms, &c. Lettuces and other esculent vegetables should be 
used seldom and sparingly, and well masticated, because the stomach and 
alimentary canal of man are not well adapted for the digestion of them. 

539. Fruits. The most abundant fruits in this island are apples, pears, 
and plums, which, when well masticated, may be freely indulged in by those 
who abstain from animal food. Apples may now be preserved the year 
round ; and — when made into pies, puddings, &c. — are an excellent addi- 
tion to the diet both of the rich and the poor. The other common fruits 
are cherries, mulberries, gooseberries, currants, brarableberries, bilberries, 
cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Others, requiring more care to 
bring them to perfection, are in less general use, as grapes, peaches, nec- 
tarines, apricots, pine-apples, and melons. The most valuable foreign 
fruits are figs, dates, dried grapes, (or raisins and currants.) prunes, French 



506 BESTFOODOFMAN. 

plums, oranges, shaddocks, tamariuds, plantains, bananas, (or Indian figs,) 
mangos, mangostaus, cocoa-nuts, and bread-fruit, many of which are im- 
jjorted, at moderate prices, either fresh or preserved." * Other vegetable 
productions are also worthy of notice, as almonds, walnuts, hickory or 
pecan-nuts, filberts, hazel-nuts, brazil-nuts, cashew-nuts, butter-nuts, sweet 
acorns, chestnuts, sugar, treacle, and honey, the latter being a vegeto-animal 
production. If to this list we add vegetable oil, milk, cream, abutter, curds, 
cheese, and eggs, we may, by selection and combination, have a diet as 
simple or as nutritious as any circumstances can require. 

540. Surely the advocates for variety of diet will find the above bill of 
fare ample enough to satisfy any moderate desires. The difficulty does not 
consist, as some suppose, in finding a sufficient number of changes on a 
fruit and farinaceous diet, but in making a judicious selection. When a 
person has for some time been habituated to this diet, he finds many changes 
unnecessary, either for health, strength, or the most perfect gratification of 
the palate. That all vegetarians should adopt one uniform mode of living 
is perhaps neither possible nor desirable ; for temperaments, constitutions, 
habits, and employments are so different, that a diet which is quite suitable 
for one may not be equally so for another ; but their resources are so 
extensive that every peculiarity and idiosyncrasy may be suited. A few 
suggestions, respecting the kinds of food to be employed at each meal, 
may probably be acceptable to those who are wishful to make a trial of 
vegetable diet. 

BREAKFAST. 

Tea and cofiee are in such general use by all classes of society in this 
country, that many will not be disposed to relinquish them. When not 
taken too hot, too strong, too copiously, nor too frequently, and accom- 
panied with a sufficiency of wholesome bread, they may probably not do 
much injury ; but those who suffer from nervousness, indigestion, palpita- 
tion of the heart, and similar disorders, ought, undoubtedly, to refrain from 
them entirely .^'^ Their utility under any circumstances is questionable, 
and they are productive of considerable mischief amongst the poor, many 
of whom take them three or four times a day in place of solid and more 
nourishing food. Cocoa and chocolate are preferred by some, and when 
good and properly prepared, are not likely to prove so injurious as tea and 
coffee ; but, on account of the oil they contain, they do not agree with all 
stomachs. 

* The Indies and other tropical climates abound in delicious fruits, as the durian, locgan, 
litchi, rambutan, mammec-apple, custard-apples, rose-apples, cream-fruit, mangaba, lanseh, 
ochee, genipap, &e. ; also various trees, yielding milk, butter, and oil. 



BEST FOOD OF MAN. 307 

[jSTote 32. The injurious effects of tea and coffee are generally very 
much underrated. Coffee is, in my opinion, not less noxious than wine, in 
its enervating effects on the whole nervous system. The green tea of com- 
merce is nearly all drugged and adulterated, and a fruitful source of 
dyspepsia and nervousness in females. It is true that black tea is lees 
injurious, because it is more pure and of less strength ; but there can 
be no exception to the physiological law that, all unnatural stimulants, 
excitants, or nervines, are injurious precisely in proportion to quantity. — T.] 

Gruel, made by boiling in water, oat-meal, barley-meal, or any of the pre- 
parations from wheat, (533,) may be substituted for tea, &c. ; also boiled 
wheat, rice, tapioca, arrow-root, sago, &;c. Milk, cold or boiled, or made 
into gruel with any of the above-mentioned articles, forms, with bread, a 
substantial breakfast for the young, and indeed for all with whom milk 
agrees, or who are not afraid of becoming too stout. With some it lies 
heavy on the stomach, and causes headache ; but, if it is on other accounts 
desirable, it may be rendered more digestible by dilating it with water and 
adopting it by degrees ; a little perseverance will reconcile the stomach to 
the use of it. Porridge, made with hominy, oatmeal, barley-meal, bread- 
meal, or rice, forms an excellent breakfast ; it is usually-eaten with treacle 
and new milk. Fruit, fresh or preserved, or dried, as raisins, figs, dates, 
&c., butter, honey, eggs, cheese-cakes, fruit-pies, &c., are useful appendages 
to the breakfast-table, if care be taken not to indulge in too great a variety 
at one time. Many prefer a breakfast consisting merely of bread, with 
butter or honey, fruit and water ; others may choose, and probably require, 
one or other of the above simple preparations. 

DINNES. 

This meal may consist of the usual vegetables and fruits ; also puddings, 
pies, eggs, omelets, fritters, cheese-cakes, macaroni, vermicelli, rice, sago, 
pearl-barley, tapioca, cheese, &c., cooked in an almost endless variety of 
ways ; for descriptions of which I must refer the reader to " Recipes of 
Vegetarian Diet," and " Yegetarian Cookery." * 

SUPPER. 

Supper may be selected from the preparations recommended for break- 
fast. 

Until the habit has been formed of living as here recommended, it is to 

• [These works have not, so far as kno-wn, been republished in this country. Bee, how- 
ever, Note 88, on following page.] 



808 BEST FOOD OF MAN. 

be expected that some inconvenience will be experienced ; and, probably, 
great self-denial will be required, as is always the case in dispensing with 
any time-honored habit which has yielded us much pleasure ; but when 
this mode of living has been thoroughly established, it will be found much 
more congenial to health, and productive of much more real enjoyment 
than the usual dietetic habits of this country. It will do more ; it will 
conduce to that peace of mind which flows from a consciousness of having 
listened to the voice of conscience, speaking through our instinctive sym- 
pathies, which urges us to respect the feelings of organized beings like our- 
selves : speaking through our rational faculties, which discover to us the 
manifest design in the structure and arrangement of our organization, and 
loudly calling upon us to abide by our adaptation, and to obey the truth : 
speaking to us through the higher faculties of faith, hope, and charity or 
benevolence, which direct us to promote social harmony, universal peace, 
and general happiness, not only amongst human beings, but throughout all 
animated and sensitive nature. 

I conclude by earnestly recommending all who have a regard to their 
own health and happiness, all who are friendly to human progress, all who 
are desirous of promoting the final triumph of knowledge and wisdom over 
ignorance and folly, and of the nobler faculties over the passions and pro- 
pensities, to give the diet a fair trial ; and, since the advantages anticipated 
are so great, not to be deterred from persevering, except by the most con- 
vincing proofs that to do so would be injurious to them.^^ 

[Note 33. To those who desire formularies for cooking physiologically 
on the vegetarian system, I would recommend the Hydi'opathic Cook-Book, 
published by Fowlers and Wells. T.] 



APPENDIX. 



A.— See § 130. 

A VERY remarkable fact relative to the oxen of South America is 
recorded by M. Roulin ; and is particularly adverted to by M. Geoffroy St. 
Hilaire, in the report made by him on M. Roulin's Memoir, before the 
Royal Academy of Sciences. In Europe, the milking of cows is continued 
through the whole period, from the time when they begin to bear calves till 
they cease to breed. This secretion of milk has become a constant func- 
tion in the animal economy of the tribe : it has been rendered such by the 
practice, continued through a long series of generations, of continuing to 
draw milk long after the period when it would be wanted by the calf. The 
teats of the cow are larger than in proportion ; and the secretion is per- 
petual. In Columbia, the practice of milking cows was laid aside ; owing 
to the great extent of farms, and other circumstances. " In a few genera- 
tions," says M. Roulin, " the natural structure of parts, and withal the 
natural state of the function, have been restored. The secretion of milk 
in the cows of this country is only an occasional phenomenon, and contem- 
porary with the actual presence of the calf. If the calf dies, the milk 
ceases to flow ; and it is only by keeping it with its dam by day, that an 
opportunity of obtaining milk from cows by night can be found." This 
testimony is important, on account of the proof it affords, that the perma- 
nent production of milk, in the European breeds of cows, is a modified 
function of the animal economy, produced by an artificial habit, continued 
through several generations. 

Two other very important observations made by M. Roulin in South 
America, were pointed out by M. GeoSroy St. Hilaire, in his report to the 
Academy of Sciences. They refer to the fact of hereditary transmission 
of habits originally impressed, with care and art, upon the ancestors. Of 
this fact I shall adduce other examples in the sequel ; at present I only 
advert to M. Roulin's observations. The horses bred on the grazing-farma 



310 APPENDIX, 



on the table-land of the Cordillera, are carefully taught a peculiar pace, 
which is a sort of running amble. This is not their natural mode of pro- 
gression ; but they are inured to it very early, and the greatest pains are 
taken to prevent them from moving in any other gait. In this way the 
acquired habit becomes a second nature. It happens occasionally that 
such horses, becoming lame, are no longer fit for use : it is then customary to 
let them loose, if they happen to be well-grown stallions, into the pasture- 
grounds. It is constantly observed, that these horses become the sires of 
a race to which the ambling pace is natural, and requires no teaching. 
The fact is so well known, that such colts have received a particular name ; 
they are termed " aguilillas." The second fact is the development of a 
new instinct, which (as M. Roulin declares) seems to become hereditary in 
the breed of dogs found among the borderers on the river Madeleine, which 
were employed in hunting the pecari. I shall cite the author's own words : 
" L'addresse du chien consiste a moderer son ardcur ; a ne s'attacher a 
aucun animal en particulier, mais a tenir toute la troupe en echec. Or, 
parmi ces chiens, on en voit maintenant qui, la premiere fois qu'on les 
amene au bois, savent deja comment attaquer ; un chien d'un*. autre espece 
se lance tout d'abord, est euvironne, et (quelle que soit sa force) il est 
devore dans un instant." 

It appears that barking is an acquired hereditary instinct. It has 
become natural to domesticated dogs and young whelps to learn to bark, 
even when separated at birth from their parents. It has been conjectured, 
that barking originated in an attempt to imitate the human voice. How- 
ever that may be, wild dogs do not bark. There are numerous troops of 
wild dogs in South America, principally in the Pampas. There are also 
in the Antilles, and in the isles on the coast of Chili, similar breeds. These 
breeds, in recovering their liberty, have lost the habit of barking. Like 
other uncultivated breeds of dogs, they only howl. It is known that the 
two dogs brought to England by Mackenzie, from the western parts of 
America, could never bark, and continued to utter their habitual howl ; 
but a whelp bred from them in Europe learned to bark. It has often been 
observed, that the dogs in the island of Juan Fernandez — the progeny of 
those which were left there purposely by the Spaniards, before Lord 
Anson's time, with the design of exterminating the goats — were never 
known to bark. A curious observation of M. Roulin is, that the cats in 
South America have, in like manner, lost those " miaidemens mcommodcs' 
which are so often heard during the hours of night, in many parts of 
Europe.* 

* Dr. Pritchard's Natural History of Man, p. 84. 



APPENDIX. 



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UI auun 


52 




. . . 


"~V"" 




. 


•S fea 


■o „-.5 




. . , 


St^S 


«iS2 




• i 


•1^0 


III 
111 




ravna. 

'5 Water," . 
1 Solid Matt 


■3111 
•Pll 






.J^^= 


5gc« 




111 


.^i 


i<s 




antityofU 
jciflc gravi 
neral Com 


10 Acid, 

Kanic Matt 
"eparable fr 
each other 


III 










C?m PP O.S 


fe 



312 



APPENDIX. 



C— See g 492. 

Prosimate Pilnciples and Value of various kinds of Grain, Koots, &c 



Grain, &c. 


Solid Mat- 
ter per 
cent. 


Flesh-form- 
ing Prin- 
ciple. 


Heat-form- 
ing Prin- 
ciple. 


Price per 

Stone of 
14 lbs. 


Nutriment 

per 

Stone. 


Flesh-form- 
ing Princi- 
ple per St'n 

s. d. 

7 2 
9 
5 2 
5 

8 4 

9 
41 1 

117 8 
25 
28 
12 6 
12 6 
11 1 


Wheat, . . 
Oats, . . . 
Peas, . . . 
Beans, . . 
Barley-meal, 
Maize-meal, 
Rice, . . . 
Sago, . . . 
Potatoes, . 
Beef, . . . 
Carrots, . . 
Turnips, . . 
Beet-roots, . 




85 
82 
84 

90 
92 
88 
28 
25 
13 
11 
11 


21 
11 
29 
31 
14 
11 

8 

3.4 

2 
25 

4 

1 

1.5 


62 
68 
51 
51 
68 
77 
82 
84 
25 


10 

9 

8.5 


8. d. 
1 6 
1 
1 6 
1 6 
1 2 
1 

3 6 

4 
6 
7 
3 

IK 
2 


s. d. 
1 9 
1 2 
1 9 
1 9 
1 5 
1 1 

3 9 

4 6 
1 9 

28 
1 11 
1 2 
1 6 



The first column in the table shows the amount of nutriment per cent 
in the various articles, the remainder of the hundred being water. Wheat, 
for instance, contains 85 per cent, of solid nutriment, consequently 15 per 
cent, of water. In the second and third columns is seen how this nutri- 
ment is divided into flesh-forming and heat-forming principles according to 
the views entertained by Liebig and others. (^§177 and 200.) The ashes 
supposed to form the bones, vary from 1 to 3^ per cent., and are omitted 
in the table. In the fourth column is given the price of each article in its 
marketable state per stone ; these prices may be considered the average of 
a number of years. In the fifth column is seen the price of real nutriment 
free from water ; and in the sixth the price of the flesh-forming principle 
per stone, rejecting altogether the amount of the heat-forming principle. 
If the prices in the last column be considered the real value of each article, 
then sago and rice are the dearest, beef the next, and beans the cheapest ; 
but, until we are better acquainted with the real principles of nutrition, 
and with the changes effected upon food by the assimilating processes of 
the animal economy, it will be nearer the truth to estimate all articles used 
for human food by the amount of solid nutriment, including both the heat- 
forming and flesh-forming principles. The above table has been formed 
principally from the analyses of Playfair and Boussingault ; but chemists 
difler so widely in the results of their experiments, (chiefly owing to real 
differences in the specimens examined,) that the numbers should only be 
considered as an approximation to the truth. What is represented as con- 
taining from 11 to 35 per cent, of gluten ; oa1>meal, from 3 to 16 per 



APPENDIX, 



813 



cent. ; yet some consider oat-meal more nutritive than wheat-meal, and 
ascribe this superiority to the ready-formed oil or fat which it contains. 

D.— See ^ 507. 

A Table exhibiting the produce of an acre of land in Wheat, Oats, Potatoes, and Beef; their 
relative value as food, cost of production, and average price. 













u 








1i. 
Ill 

H 

113 


li 


St . 

■3tS 


.9 
a 


.2| 


4 


Is 




li 






.1 


^1 


1 
< 




o 


-1 


<i 


« 


1 


_a 


1. 


2. 


3. 


4. 


5. 


6. 


7. 










d. 


£ 


d. 


Wheat 


120 


IK 


3 


4 


12 


6 


18 


Oats 


183 


2 


w 


3 


8 


6 


12 


Potatoes .... 


1440 


6 


9" 


1 


2 


12 


6 


Beef 


13 


6 


12 


1 


55 


3 


84 



The columns 1, 2, and 3 will be easily understood by the heading of 
each ; thus the annual produce of an acre of land under wheat is 120 
stones, of beef only 13 stones. On an exclusively wheat diet, a man would 
require 1^ lb. per day, and one-third of an acre to supply it ; whilst on an 
exclusively beef diet he would require 6 lbs. per day, and twelve acres of land 
to supply it. (See | 500, &c.) Column 4 shows that, as regards intrinsic 
value for human food, beef should be the same price as potatoes, and wheat 
four times the price of either. Column 5 gives the cost of production per 
stone, including rent, tithes, taxes, labor, and seed ; and column 6 the cost 
per acre. By comparing columns 5 and 7, we perceive that the o.verage 
price of each article is half as much more as the cost of production, 
except in the case of potatoes, the price of which is three times the cost 
of production, and one-third the price of wheat ; whereas their intrinsic 
value is only one-fourth, according to column 4. By comparing the cur- 
rent prices of any period with column 4, we ascertain whether they bear a 
proportionate relation to each other ; and, by comparing them with the 
prime cost in column 5, we may find the profits of the producer in return 
for his capital, skill, &c. I have considered the expense of growing a 
bushel of wheat to be four shillings and threepence, whereas Earl Dacie 
14 



814 APPENDIX. 



says it may be grown for three shillings and sixpence ; but wheat cannot 
be grown at these prices, except under the most improved modes of cul- 
ture. The data upon which the table has been formed were received from 
practical men, and I have no reason to dispute their correctness ; yet, unless 
average crops be obtained at the expense mentioned, the profits will of 
course be reduced in proportion to the decrease in produce and increase in 
cost. 



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popular, and thousands might be sold where they have never yet been introduced. Let- 
ters and other communications should, in all cases, be post paid, and directed to the 
Publishers, as follows : FOWLER AND WELLS, 308 Broadway, N. Y. 



Books sent by first Mail to any Post-Office in the United States. 



WORKS ON PHYSIOLOGY, 

PTJBLISnED BY 

Fowler ani> Wells, 

3 8 Broadway, New York. 



The Complete Gymnasium. A pro- 

fusely illustrated work. Being the application of Gymnastic, Calisthenic, Kine- 
sipathic, and Vocal Exercises to the Development of Body and Mind, and the Cure 
of Disease. By K. T. Trail, M.D. Price, $1 25. 



Heeeditaey Desce:^t : its Laws and 

Facts applied to Human Improvement. By 0. S. Fowler. Price, 87 cents. 

Food and Diet; with Observations 

on the Dietetic Pvegimen suited to Disordered States of the Digestive Organs ; and 
an Account of the^Dietaries of some of the Principal Metropolitan and other Es- 
tablishments for Paupers, Lunatics, Criminals, Children, the Sick, &c. By J. Pe- 
reira, M.D., F.R.S. Octavo. Muslin. Price, $1 25. 



Combe's Physiology, applie to the 

Preservation of Health, and to the Improvement of Physical and Mental Education. 
By Andrew Combe, M.D. With Notes and Observations by O. S. Fowler. 87 cts. 



Mateiotity; or, the Bearing and JNTurs- 

Ing of Children, including Female Education. By O. S. Fowler. 87 cents. 

Combe on Infancy; or, the Physio- 

logical and Moral Management of Children. By Andrew Combe, M.D. 87 cents. 

Physiology, Animal and Mental, 

applied to the Preservation and Eestoration of Health of Body and Power of 
Mind. By O. S. Fowler. Illustrated with Engravings. Price fc7 cents. 

Amativeistess I or, Evils aiid Remedies 

of Excessive and Perverted Sexuality, including Warning and Advice to the -Mar- 
ried and Single. An important little Avork. 15 cents REPRODUCTIVE 

ORGANS : their Diseases, Causes, and Cure on Hydropathic Principles. 15 cents. 



Uterine Diseases: or, the Displace- 

ment of the Uterus. A thorough and practical treatise on the Malpositions of the 
Uterus and adincent Orsans. illustrated with Colored Engravings from Original 
Designs. ByE. T. Trail, M.D, Price, -15 00. 



Fowler and Wells' Publications. 



How TO Weite: a New Pocket Manual 

of Composition and Letter-Writing, embracing Hints on Penmanship and choice 
of Writing Materials, Practical Eules for Literary Composition in general, and 
Epistolary and Newspaper Writing, Punctuation, and Proof Correcting in particu- 
lar ; Directions for Writing Letters of Business, Eelationship, Friendship and Love, 
Illustrated with numerous Examples of Genuine Epistles from the pens of the 
Best Writers, to which are added Forms for Letters of Introduction, Notes, 
Cards, &c. Paper, 30 cents ; muslin, 50 cents. 

How TO Talk : a New Pocket Manual 

of Conversation and Debate, with Directions for Acquiring a Grammatical and 
Graceful Style, embracing the Origin of Language, a Condensed History of the 
English Language, a Practical Exposition of the Parts of Speech, and their 
Modifications and Arrangement in Sentences ; Hints on Pronunciation, the Art 
of Conversation, Debating, Reading and Boolcs, with more than Five Hundred 
Errors in Speaking Corrected. Paper, 30 cents ; muslin, 50 cents. 



How TO Behave: a New Pocket Man- 

ual of Republican Etiquette, and Guide to Correct Personal Habits ; embracing an 
Exposition of the Principles of Good Manners, Useful Hints on the Care of the Per- 
son, Eating, Drinking, Exercise, Habits, Dress, Self-Culture, and Behavior at 

Home; the Etiquette of Salutations, Introductions, Receptions, Visits, Dinners, 
Evening Parties, Conversation, Letters, Presents, Weddings, Funerals, the Street, 
the Church, Places of Amusement, Traveling, &c ; with" Illustrative Anecdotes, 
a Chapter on Love and Courtship, and Eules of Order for Debating Societies, 
Paper, 30 cents ; muslin, 50 cents. 



How TO DO Business : a New Pocket 

Manual of Practical Affairs and Guide to Success in Life ; embracing the Principle, 
of Business ; Advice in Reference to a Business Education ; Choice of a Pursuif , 
Buying and Selling, General Management, Manufacturing, Mechanical Trades, 
Farming, Book and Newspaper Publishing, Miscellaneous Enterprises, Causes of 
Success and Failure, How to Get Customers, Business Maxims, Letter to a Young 
Lawyer, Business Forms, Legal and Useful Information, and a Dictionary of Com- 
mercial Terms. Paper, 30 cents ; muslin, 50 cents. 



Hand Books foe Home Impeove- 

MENT (Educational); comprising, " How to Write," "How to Talk," "How to 
Behave," and " How to Do Business," in one large gilt volume. Price, $1 50. 

Hopes and Helps foe the Young 

of both Sexes ; Relating to the Formation of Character, Choice of Avocation, 
Health, Amusement, Music. Conversation, Cultivation of Intellect, Moral Senti- 
ments, Social Affection, Courtship and Marriage. By Rev. G. S. Weaver. Price, 
in paper, 62 cents ; muslin, 87 cents. 



Fowler and Wells' Publications. 



Hints towards Reforms ; consisting 

of Lectures, Essays, Addresses, and other Writings. With the Crystal Palace and 
its Lessons. Second Edition, Enlarged. By llorace Greeley. Price, $1 25. 



Human Rights, and their Politi- 

cal guarantees. By Hurlbut. With Notes, by Combe. Paper, 62 cts. ; muslin, S7 cts. 



Natural Laws op Man. A Philo- 

sophical Catechism. By J. G. Spurzheim, M. D. An important work. SO cents. 

Home por All. A New, Cheap, Con- 

venient and Superior Mode of Building ; containing Full Directions for Constructing 
Gravel Walls. With Views, Plans and Engraved Illustrations. Price, 87 cents. 



Demands of the Age on Colleges, 

A Speech Delivered bj^ Hon. Horace Mann, President of Antioch College. With 
an Address to the Students on College Honor. Price, 25 cents. 



Aims and Aids for Girls and 

YOUNG WOMEN, on the various duties of life, including Physical, Intellectual, 
and Moral Development ; Self-Culture Improvement, Education, the Home Ee- 
lations, their Duties to Young Men, Marriage, Womanhood, and Happiness. By 
Rev. G. S. Weaver. Paper, 62 cts. ; muslin, 8T cts. 



Science of Swimming. Giving a 

History of Swimming, and Instructions to Learners. By an Experienced Swim- 
mer. Illustrated with Engravings. 15 cents. Every boy should have a copy. 



Ways of Lifei or, the Right Whj 

AND THE WEONG WAY. A First Rate Book for all Young People. By Eev. 
G. S. Weaver. Paper, 50 cts. ; muslin, 60 cts. 

Delia's Doctors : or, a Glance Behind 

the Scenes. By Hannah Gardner Creamer. Paper, price 62 cents ; muslin 87 cents. 

Immortality Triumphant. The Ex- 

istence of a God and Human Immortality, Practically Considered, and the Truth 
of Divine Eevelation Substantiated. By Eev. John Bovee Dods. Muslin, 87 cts. 

Kanzas Region : Embracing Descrip- 

tions of Scenery, Climate, Productions, Soil, and Eesources of the Territory. 
Interspersed with Incidents of Travel. By Max Greene. Price 30 cts ; mus. 50 cts. 



Fowler and Wells' Publications. 



Chemistry, and its Applications 

to Agriculture and Commerce. By Justus Liebig, M. D., F. E. S. Price 25 cents. 

Botany for all Classes. Contain- 

ing a Floral Dictionary, and a Glossary of Scientific Terms. Illustrated. 87 cents. 

PoPULATiOE", Theoey OF. Deduced 

from the General Law of Animal Fertility. Introduction by Dr. Trail. 15 cents. 

Life Illustrated i A First-Class 

PICTORIAL WEEKLY FAMILY PAPER. Devoted to Entertainment, Im- 
provement, and Progress To illustrate Life in all its phases, to point out all 
legitimate means of Economy and Profit, and to encourage a spirit of Hope, 
Activity, Self-Reliance, and ISIanliness among the People are some of the objects 
of this Journal, i ublished Weekly, at $2 a year. Half a year, $1. 

Tobacco. Three Prize Essays. By Drs. 

Shew, Trail, and Baldwin. Price, 15 cents. TOBACCO: its History, Nature, 

and Eflfects on Body and Mind. 80 cents. USE OF TOBACCO; its Physical, 

Intellectual, and Moral Effects. By Dr. Alcott. 15 cents. SOBER AND TEM- 
PERATE LIFE ; the Discourses and Letters of Louis Cornaro. With a Biogra- 
phy of the Author. With Notes and an Appendix. 30 cents. Twenty -five thou- 
sand copies have been sold. It is translated into several languages. TEA 

AND COFFEE ; their Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Effects on the Human 

System. By Dr. W. Alcott. 15 cents. TEETH ; their Structure, Disease and 

Treatment. With numerous Illustrations. By John Burdell. Price, 15 cts. 



^tumtvif^m ana U^actiolofiff* 

A NEW AND COMPLETE LIBRARY OF ^MESMERISM AND PSCYHOLOGY, 
embracing the most popular works on the subject, with suitable Illustrations. In 
two volumes of about 900 pp. Price, $3 00. 

ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Physiology of. In a Course of Twelve Lectures. By 
John Bovee Dods. Muslin. Price, 87 cents. 

MACROCOSM AND MICROCOSM; or, the Universe Without and the Universe With 
in; in the World of Sense, and the World of Soul. By Wm. Fishbough. Pi ice, 
Paper, 62 cents ; Muslin, 87 cents. 

FASCINATION ; or. the Philosophy of Charming. Illustrating the Principles of Life, 
in connection with Spirit and Matter. By J. B. Newman, M. D. 87 cents. 

PHILOSOPHY OF MESMERISM. Six Lectures. With an Introduction. By Eev. 
John Bovee Dods. Paper. Price, 80 cents. 

PSYCHOLOGY ; or, the Science of the Soul. Considered Physiologically and Philo- 
sophically. With an Appendix containing Notes of Mesmeric and Psychical Ex- 
perience. By Joseph Haddock, M.D. 30 cts. 



These works may be ordered in large or small quantities. A liberal discount will be 
made to Agents, and others, who buy to sell again. They may be sent by Express, or 
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always preferred. We pay cost of exchange. All letters should be post paid, and ad- 
dressed as follows : 

Boston: 1 FOWIiEK AIVD ^VEIiliS, (Philadelphia: 

142 WashiagtonSt. J 308 Broadway, I¥ew York. | 9'2i chestnut st. 



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